Jane Pan (short for Panagiotis) began skateboarding in 1968 and even appeared in an ad for the Watershed Skate / Surf Shop out of Rhode Island in the July 1988 issue of Thrasher (*shout out to editor, Michael Burnett for the heads up) giving a nod to the shop’s “hardcore roots.” What I love about this photo is that it would have been a positive reminder to the male-dominated industry of the 1980s that women existed and have always actively participated in skateboarding.
In 1988, Bonnie Blouin had her “Skater’s Edge” column in Thrasher but in the 13 issues that year (including the Collector’s issue) the only photos of women skating besides Jane appeared in the May 1988 issue of Bonnie and her friend, Amy Paul. Brutal.
Skateboarding initially peaked in 1964-1965 and wouldn’t start gaining traction again until 1975 when skateboards dramatically improved thanks to urethane wheels and innovative truck design. Meanwhile, back in the 1960s, skateboarding had been condemned and banned across North America (and beyond) and deemed a threat to life. By 1968, skateboarding was not a popular, mainstream activity like it was during Patti McGee‘s heyday, but Jane didn’t seem to care.
In the Thrasher photograph, Jane appears ready to rip, wearing heavy gloves and makeshift elbow pads, evidently gaining speed.
Jane was the wife of Peter “Pan” Panagiotis who was a sponsored surfer with the Hobie Surf Team of Narragansett, Rhode Island thanks to Will Somers who opened the Narragansett Surf Shop in 1962 and sold Hobie surf boards exclusively. Two years later, in 1964 the shop was sold to Bill and John Spicer of Stonington, Connecticut and moved to Beach Street.
Images from Dave Levy Surf Designs
Pete replied to my email and wrote that, “I began dating [Jane] in 1967, and being a surfer and skater, I introduced her to both sports. Being a bit of a dare devil, she dabbled in both, almost immediately. She really took to skateboarding, and although she took some serious wipe-outs on the concrete, adapted well to riding the streets.”
Pete even recorded Jane skateboarding in 1968, on his Super-8 camera, which was included on a YouTube video featuring a contest in New England from the 1970s:
Footage: Jane in Narragansett 1968 by Pete Pan
Pete explained that “Being the only female skater in the area, she was chosen as a member of the New England Hobie Skateboard Team, and skated on our primitive equipment in many local contests. She especially loved riding her Torger Johnson on the hilly roads of South County. When we moved to New York City in 1971, we found lots of riding surfaces, including indoor parking garages. Her Hobie ‘Super Flex’ fiberglass skateboard was her NYC choice for the garages.”
Photo: this image of Jane and Pete from 1974 in a NYC parking-garage appeared in the book A Secret History of the Ollie by Craig B. Snyder. Coolest parents ever!!
According to the History page for the Narragansett skate and surf shop, “When urban renewal leveled Beach Street in 1971, Peter Pan moved the shop franchises to his house, close by. For several years, under the name Gansett Surf Supplies… He then partnered with Dave Levy, who was a top lifeguard at the town beach, and continued to supply Hobie surfboards, skateboards, and wetsuits to local clientele.” Finally, in 1976 Levy and Pan launched Watershed Surf Shop on Main Street in Wakefield becoming the top Hobie dealer on the east coast.
Photos by Don Hunter in the 1970s, who was a Car & Driver magazine photographer in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jane sounded like a free spirit! According to Pete, “One of my favorite recollections of her skateboarding, was the Hobie crew encouraging her to charge a steep but newly paved road at the University of Rhode Island campus. This of course, was barefoot and with a bathing suit. The spectacular wipe-out from the wobbles, left her full of nasty scrapes and a ripped apart suit. When she went back to work in the doctor’s office on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, the next day, her boss went nuts on her when she found out that all those burns came from skateboarding.”
Above: Jane is acknowledged on the cover of the June 1979 Summertimes TV guide and The Spectator newspaper on May 11, 1976, for Watershed.
Jane also became an avid surfer and appeared in another Watershed ad this time for Surfer Magazine from 1984 rocking a thick “Rip Curl Polar Insulator.” I liked how the ad emphasized that they were the only retailer stocking women’s Polar suits.
Jane and Peter’s daughter, Tricia continued the legacy and owns Narragansett Surf and Skate Shop today. Tricia was featured in an article about women addicted to winter surfing in New England for the website Outdoors.org, and her story was shared in 2018 for The Boston Voyager. Tricia said that “I grew up in Pawtucket RI, an outskirt of Providence, to two awesome hard working parents. My mother Jane worked as a phlebotomist while my father Peter ran a surf shop and sidelined as a freelance graphic designer.”
Tricia and her brother Ted “were exposed to surfing and skateboarding as opposed to more regular sports like baseball and soccer.” And while Ted leaned towards skateboarding, Tricia picked up surfing and would compete in contests with her dad, even helping him to run the Eastern Surfing Association, and teaching lessons. While the Watershed shop closed in 2001 after 26 years in business, Narragansett Surf & Skate was revived years later by Tricia and Peter.
Another fun fact about the Watershed skate shop is that artist Shepard Fairey worked there in the late 1980s while he studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. In a feature for the Miami New Times it was written that in the summer of 1989 he was making his own stencils and printing t-shirts, and “If his boss wasn’t around, he would sell the extra shirts in the shop. One day, when a friend wanted to learn how to cut a stencil, Fairey flipped through a newspaper and came across an ad for wrestling featuring Andre the Giant.” He proposed making a stencil out of Andre’s face, and his friend that the idea was stupid, but Fairey declared, “What are you talking about, man? Andre’s posse is taking over.”
Thanks again, to Pete for the backstory on Jane and to Tricia for making the connections! Jane sounds like a true badass and I’m so grateful that Watershed Surf and Skate shop chose to feature her legacy in their advertisements.
For more 1970s skater moms, check out the profiles for Gale Webb, Liz Bevington, Rebecca Williams, and Brigitta Dittmann.
Reference:
- Panagiotis, Peter. Email conversation. January 7, 2026.
Womxn Skateboard History 