An early September package from Lisa Whitaker of Meow skateboards started things off right this fall! She had reached out, noticing I was rocking a favourite Meow t-shirt in a photo and offered to send a few more items. I was so stoked, and it was great timing because I had been digging into Lisa’s history for my book, Girl Gangs, Zines and Powerslides: a history of badass women skateboarders.
I wanted to celebrate Lisa for being so critical in our communal history. Lisa started out as a photographer/filmer/skater in the 1980s, which led to being a sponsored Rookie skater in the 1990s, then the webmaster behind The Side Project website, which evolved into The Girls Skate Network, plus her epic accumulation of footage that fueled the Villa Villa Cola film production, Getting Nowhere Faster (2004) among other film projects and documentaries, and then becoming the owner of Meow!!! Phew! We had a fun Zoom chat, and I’ll be pulling together a web bio soon.
I did a little photo shoot with the neighbourhood kitten, Gizmo since one of the Meow t-shirts was designed by Lori Damiano of VVC fame and looked just like him!
The editing process with my publisher ECW Press continues, and I was relieved to submit the latest manuscript draft on deadline last week! It’s a whooping 93,000 words right now but will likely get pared down a bit once the line editing begins. I’m learning so much about the behind-the-scenes process of writing and publishing. The goal is a Fall 2025 release, so hopefully on target.
A few weeks ago, I was in Vancouver for the 9th Annual Stop Drop and Roll contest organized by Rose Archie of Nations Skate Youth (and sponsored rider for Colonialism skateboards) at the Britannia Courts. Michelle Pezel at Antisocial skateshop proposed a book launch there next year in the lead up to the event, which would be so much fun! Hopefully it all comes together. The 2024 event was also a fundraiser for Judy McLaren of The_Real_Hot_SkateMoms, who is battling cancer, and is just a wonderful, vibrant person and skater mom. Please consider donating today.
I had a blast witnessing the contest, and was part of the crew, timing the runs. We didn’t do a 40 plus category this year, but that’s okay although I have been trying to skate at least twice a week to maintain some basic level of skill! It was my 47th birthday last week and I was over on Vancouver Island enjoying a family reunion and some quick skate sessions at Tofino and Ucluelet skateparks before it started sprinkling rain.
I had a great time, but am a little worried about how I’ll keep things going over the winter since there’s no sheltered / indoor skateparks or even parking garage where I live, since it’s such a small town.
The highlight of my fall was definitely having a visit from my good buddies Rhianon Bader (all the way from Berlin, Germany) who works for The GoodPush / Skateistan and Talia Kaufman (who is based in Portugal!) and is involved with youth advocacy and sport at an international level. Even with the rain we got out mushroom foraging and hiking, and just had an awesome time catching up. Turns out that Rhianon’s husband, Oliver Percovich (Skateistan CEO) and my husband both celebrated their 50th birthday recently, so a shout out to both of them!
It’s feeling quiet in the house without them, but I’ve got some great interviews lined up with interesting women skaters and will keep forging on with this project.
Plus, exciting news!! I will now be a columnist with Closer skateboarding magazine, which is edited by Jaime Owens, who has had a longtime connection with the skateboarding publishing industry including TransWorld and Skateboarder magazines. Closer is a quality production that is published quarterly.
John Freeborn of Tails of… skateboarding has also included me in a cool new Skateboard Book Club initiative, so consider subscribing to this newsletter which will feature book reviews and interviews. So far, I’ve submitted reviews for Late September (2024) a debut novel by Amy Mattes, who is my friend and former Skirtboarder, Drop In: the gender rebels who changed the face of skateboarding by Deborah Stoll (2024), and a lovely picture book by Cree-Métis author / illustrator, Julie Flett called Let’s Go! haw êkwa!, which received approval from Rose Archie!
Here’s to dark, rainy nights reading more fantastic books and connecting with wonderful skateboarders from around the world.
Womxn Skateboard History 