Category: Profile
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Stefanie Thomas
Stefanie Thomas was a competitive street skater in the early 2000s. She was originally from Satellite Beach, Florida but moved to Long Beach, CA with her roommate, another ripper named Jayme Erickson. Her sponsors included woman-owned company Rookie, Stereo, Etnies, Destructo, Accel, Bones, and Westside skateshop. She had a smooth, confident style with plenty of…
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Leaf Treinen
Leaf Treinen was originally from Hawaii before growing up in Eugene, Oregon where she became a factory-sponsored skateboarder in the late 1980s / early 1990s. In March of 1986, nearing the end of 8th Grade, Leaf began skateboarding and was aware of the local Willamette Dammitt contest, which took place for the first time on…
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Michelle Matta
Michelle Matta (Overin) of Canoga Park near Los Angeles had a flurry of activity in November 1977 when she appeared in both Skateboard World as well as a 6-page feature in Wild World of Skateboarding magazine at age 14. Michelle was a graceful Californian freestyle skater, riding for Maxwell and Pepsi, and while there’s emphasis…
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G.B. Jones
G.B. Jones is an artist who collaborated on the queer punk zine called J.D.’s (AKA Juvenile Delinquents / James Dean / J.D. Salinger / Just Desserts diner / Jack Daniels / Joy Division) with Bruce LaBruce and The New Lavender Panthers out of Toronto, Canada from 1985-1991. In the zine, they cultivated the queercore movement…
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Laura Thornhill-Caswell
An archive on the history of women skaters wouldn’t be complete without Laura Thornhill (Caswell) with her massive list of contest wins. Her legacy is very much tied to the 1970s, and the photos of her taken by the legendary photographer Warren Bolster are iconic, among many others. When I tell people I’m writing about…
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Kym Agresti
Kym Agresti from Santa Cruz was a skateboarder, artist, photographer, and zine writer. In her artist’s bio she wrote that, “1984 was a great year to be 18 years old. The skateboarding world was exploding and I was there right in its midst. One Friday my high school arts teacher let me rent a 35…
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Jana Payne
Jana Payne (Booker) has been repeatedly recognized as a major influence on skaters like Vicki Vickers, Kym Milburn, and Terry Lawrence and has now been inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame (2022). Jana is also a survivor of childhood sexual assault which she experienced at the hands of a predatory skateboarding coach in the…
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Kim Adrian
While interviewing skateboarder Kim Adrian it occurred to me that I was speaking to a true “skater’s skater” – someone who skated for the love of it, committed to the actual doing of skateboarding versus self-promotion. I also believe that she should be on everyone’s radar because based on the photos that were shared, Kim…
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Liz Bevington
Liz Bevington (RIP) was renowned and beloved as an eccentric Venice Beach local nicknamed “Skateboard Mama,” with a passion for skateboarding and kite skating. Liz was born in Germany and began skateboarding the boardwalk at age 52 in 1976. According to an article called “Widow rides the Boardwalk” (Associated Press) from August 1995, she loved…
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Lisa Muir
Lisa Muir Wakley is a legendary surfer based out of Pensacola, Florida who also competed in skateboarding. In an interview by Professor Steve Estes on southern surfing in June 2017, it was shared that Lisa “was born in 1955 on Rantoul Air Force Base in Illinois. Her dad was a hurricane hunter in the Air…
Womxn Skateboard History 