Category: Profile
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Gale Webb
Over the years, Gale Webb has been dubbed “Mrs. Skateboard,” “The Skateboarding Mom,” “Rad Mom,” “Motocross Mom,” “Mrs. Moto,” and “America’s Sports Mom,” all of which she embraced. In Gale’s Skateboarding Hall of Fame bio, it’s explained that she was born in Brooklyn, NY and at age 12 she had dismantled her old roller skates,…
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Jean Rusen
Jean Rusen Keyser (aka Calamity Jean) is someone who has successfully challenged the myth that skateboarding is purely a youthful pursuit, best taken up as a pre-teen before you have a chance to be deterred by pain and distracted by adult responsibilities. Jean is a skater, surfer, musician, and mother of two girls, Jada and…
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Rose Siggins
I hope all the moms, aunts, and caregivers had an awesome day today, especially everyone who raised funds at the 20th Annual Mighty Mama Skate-o-Rama, which was launched by Barb Odanaka, and organized by Patti McGee‘s daughter, Hailey Villa this year! One of the best responses to a skateboard history post is when I see…
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Joanna Field
Joanna Field is from Pacific Palisades and was a skateboarder who worked at Marina Del Rey skatepark back in the late 1970s. Photo: James Takakura Joanna was good friends with all the regulars, including Christian Hosoi, Jay Adams, among others. She even used her creative talent to hand-draw a fun Christmas card (left) for the…
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Child Prodigies 1970s
Child prodigy skateboarders are fascinating, especially today in this highly visible realm of competition leading up to the Olympics. Back in the 1960s, since skateboarding was essentially branded a child’s toy, the majority of skaters were kids, while in the 1970s most of the sponsored pros were teenagers. There’s several names of youngsters that appear…
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Sally Affleck
Sally Affleck (Felice) of Australia was a competitive skater starting out in the late 1980s, consistently holding her own throughout the 1990s and beyond. In North America, you might have unknowingly seen her within Thrasher in the February 1995 issue that contained a six-page collage of female skaters in the “Girls Who Skate” article, chock…
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Kerry Cooper
Kerry Cooper (Germain) was a 1970s skater who is mostly under the radar, but her name occasionally appeared in contest results, starting back in 1976. At the Ventura 2nd Annual Skateboard Championships, Kerry placed 2nd in freestyle behind Laura Thornhill for Girls 11-14, ahead of Tracy Alaway, Bonnie Kaplan, and Gloria Blanchard. Contests were still…
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The Frumpies
The Frumpies were a punk band that formed in 1992 out of Olympia, WA who also happened to have skateboarding and Riot Grrrl connections. According to Wikipedia, the original members were Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren (who all played in Bikini Kill) and Molly Neuman of Bratmobile, with the addition in 1993 of…
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Janet Church
Janet Church (Atkins) from Anaheim, CA was documented by her little brother, Dave Church (RIP), who was also an active skateboarder, carving the Fish Bowl in 1977, which is such a stylish and iconic photo. Janet was sponsored by Hobie at the time, rocking her Vans shoes and Hang-Ten socks, and I would love to…
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Lucie Kalinová
In the summer of 1999, I was fortunate to pursue a semester abroad in Prague, Czechia at Charles University. My motives were not academic. I had heard of a derelict plaza covered in marble slabs where skateboarders gathered simply called “Stalin,” in reference to a monument that had been blown up, and I wanted to…
Womxn Skateboard History 