Leslie Anne Miller was a competitive skateboarder in the early 1980s, and like her peer, Diane Veerman (Desiderio) she had a classic 80s look! Freestyle was her preference, and Leslie was consistently placing strongly, even against the guys. Note: sometimes her name is misspelled “Leslee Ann Miller.”
Photo: this nose wheelie image by Per Holknekt appeared in TransWorld magazine (July / August 1983 p50) as well as being included in an ad for Madrid skateboards, also TransWorld (February 1984), and eventually the book Tracker: Forty Years of Skateboard History (2015) since Leslie was sponsored by both Madrid and Tracker.
In the September 1983 issue of Thrasher Leslie appears in the results for the July 30/31, 1983 NSA Paramount contest coming in 16th against the 31 amateur guys. In the article it was written that, “The formidable ranks of finalists consisted of several up and coming young freestylers who happened to include two exceptionally hot female skaters, Leslie Miller and Diane Veerman.”
At a contest at the Del Mar Skate Ranch called the Del Mar Holiday Classic since it was held December 30/31, Leslie was able to compete against other girls in a banked freestyle event and took the win against April Hoffman, Michelle Sanderson, and Wendy Carmona. A report in the February 1984 issue of Thrasher said that Leslie “displayed a graceful routine to nab top honor” and that all the competitors were developing their skills rapidly.
Photo: Diane Veerman and Leslie Anne are seen practising for a CASL contest in Poweredge magazine (July / August 1983 p56)
Freestyle was evolving at the time into a slightly different vision called “streetstyle” which is simply called Street skating today. It was a curious evolution because the punk attitudes of the 1980s demanded an alienation of all things “feminine” and freestyle was lumped into that category and essentially condemned.
But female skateboarders weren’t opposed to the change, in fact, when Leslie was asked how she would define streetstyle in an article “Free in the Street” within the July 1984 issue of Thrasher, she replied, “Have fun with style—exerting a lot of aggression” (p. 37). The question was posed to skaters, contest organizers, and manufacturers during the coverage of the NSA Summer Olympics #2 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco which had separate categories for Pro and Amateur Freestyle, Pro and Amateur Streetstyle. Again, Leslie, April Hoffman, and Michelle Sanderson were simply merged into the mob of bros and their placing is unknown.
Sadly, I noticed in the coverage of freestyle within Thrasher that by the mid-to-late 1980s it was often mocked and dismissed as an inauthentic form of skateboarding. I’m confident that Leslie was still competing, but it must have been hard to feel respected and taken seriously when the industry was scorning your skateboarding preference in an attempt to re-brand itself as hardcore and punk.
Leslie went on to complete her B.A. at the California State University and is now a realtor. Hopefully we’ll connect for a conversation soon!
Womxn Skateboard History 