i can envision 15 year old jay adams blond hair flying standing on the hood of a car
checking for empty swimming pools to skate that's where his legend as a skateboarding pioneer began
he has been called the original seed of skateboarding although some would have
said he was the sport's original sin regardless he continues to be ranked as one of the most
influential skateboarders of all time and he was more than that he was a symbol of freedom and
rebellion for young people around the world jay had everything athleticism guts style personality
adding to all that he was cool to nearly everyone he met drugs would soon destroy everything he had
built according to him after my mother and brother died i wanted to shoot somebody instead i shot
myself he was referring to mainlining heroin at that time the tattoo on his neck summed him
up pretty well menace to society he read but was that him were his moves over concrete and
salt water the real jay adams or the rap sheets citing violations like terroristic threatenings
i was there with his family and close friends skate legends dennis martinez and christian hassoy
when jay was sentenced to two years prison time for his involvement in a drug deal gone bad
he was in chains but they would not hold him forever they could no more confine his
spirit than a tombstone could the body of the one he had come to believe in
he's not the kind of kid that could sit still he's not the kind of kid that could be quiet he always
had to have something going on it's as if it's as if we all have 120 going into us and he's got 240.
so he was always had this intense revved up engine you know it's so
gifted in certain areas of his existence and so absolutely clueless in others jay
adams used to skate for my team he was a good friend and he was quite a competitor in his day
he was a total troublemaker and in the funniest way and completely subversive
jay adams i think one of the best skaters of all time he set the bar for you know pool skating and
street skating just the epitome of a of a surf
with skater and my mom my mom was like my best friend until she died
i think the only tools he had you know to deal with that were getting loaded and getting violent
jay was all about punk rock pedal of the metal when the punk rock days came out every night was
just drinking beer going up to hollywood and you know in order for me to have a good night somebody
had to have a really bad night i had a taste of the heroin and things really got bad i mean really
bad i used toilet water gutter water i shared needles with guys that looked like they were
dying of aids they were hiv positive and i didn't even care i really didn't care if i lived or died
years of abuse would finally catch up with dogtown's favorite son
the price of dope had escalated far beyond its street
it's value how much god has been with us throughout this whole time we've both grown
so much in the lord we both actually know him now and we pray together and
there's just a lot of changes in my life that i can see you know that i've never felt before
the world of skateboarding would never be the same they rose to the top
they fell to the bottom they rose again death destroyed
you