Tag: vert
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Leigh Parkin
Leigh Parkin (Blake) was a Del Mar Skate Ranch local who began skateboarding in the 1970s and competed strongly in the early 1980s. In an email, Leigh shared that, “I was first introduced to skateboarding from an older brother, we would skate at the middle school and the curbs by our house, I was probably…
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Stephanie Person
Stephanie Person is the first black female professional skateboarder and her contributions throughout the 1980s are legendary. Skateboarding has always appealed to youth regardless of race or gender (see: Cheryl Thornton) but the barriers facing women & non-binary skaters of color to embrace sport and subculture are incomparable (see: Ramdasha Bikceem). Back in the day,…
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Michelle Ticktin
Michelle Ticktin of Glasgow, Scotland was a ripping vert skater in the late 1980s and besides the legendary Sue Hazel, she was one of the few female skaters known to be skating in the UK at the time. In the November 1989 issue of the UK magazine Skateboard! an interview was published by Christian Welsh…
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Cara-Beth Burnside: Part One
Cara-Beth Burnside is a skateboarder of legendary status whose presence and perseverance within the subculture has transcended decades. She has witnessed the highs and lows of skateboarding as an industry, as well as the shifting attitudes towards female skaters, which she helped transform. Considering the impact of her story, this feature is in two-parts, beginning…
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Sue Hazel
Sue Hazel is the UK equivalent to Cara-beth Burnside considering her long-standing skateboarding career from 1977 to the present and her role in supporting the progression of female skaters in Britain. While brief interviews of Sue appeared in UK magazines Sk8Action and Skateboard! during the 1980s, a more thorough interview was conducted in 2010 by…
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Nathalie Richter
Nathalie Richter from Bonn was Germany’s amateur female skateboarding champion in the late 1980s, and thanks to the ‘zine Equal Time, edited by Lynn Kramer, her story isn’t lost! Nathalie began skateboarding in February 1986 and three years later, at age 19 she was riding for Vans, G&S, Venture, Speed Wheels, and Rector. Nathalie’s feature…
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Rhonda Doyle
In the early 1990s, when asked about other female skaters in the scene, Rhonda Doyle was given props by Cara-beth Burnside in her October 1991 interview for Thrasher. Burnside stated that, “My friend Rhonda Doyle skates vert and pools really well. She’s an aggro grinder girl” (47). Photos: Ethan Fox Rhonda was part of the…
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Lori Rigsbee
Lori Rigsbee* from Del Mar, California skated purely for the love of it and in the late 1980s and early 1990s she was one of the few female skaters in the mainstream skateboard industry limelight. She is recognized today for her iconic ads for Independent trucks (Thrasher June 1989) and Airwalk (1990), and for her…
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Bonnie Blouin
Bonnie Blouin (RIP) and her younger brother Blaize (RIP) were powerhouse siblings in the skateboarding community during the 1980s. While this entry does end tragically [*Warning*], the goal is to celebrate the life and contributions of Bonnie, whose presence in Thrasher was often the only positive portrayal of women, in contrast to its heavy saturation…
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Cindy Whitehead
Cindy Whitehead was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2016 for both her accomplishments as a pro skater in the 1970s and her relentless advocacy for women in skateboarding that continues today. She spearheads the skateboarding movement “Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word,” which includes a website, archive, interviews, social media, and…
Womxn Skateboard History 