The entire skate world and many more mourned Andy’s passing. I didn’t think I could improve on the New York Times tribute below. Ironic that Andy was stung by a bee, and only a few months ago many of us where commenting on the irony of Brewce succumbing to a truck tire after living a life on the edge…
“I‚Äôve been skateboarding seriously for more than 20 years, and while I never met Andy Kessler, I know his life story. Most skaters over the age of 25 do. Born in Greece and raised on West 71st Street in Manhattan, Kessler started skateboarding when he was 11. This was in the 1970s, a time when skateboarding was so alien to New York City that he had to mail-order his gear from California. Significance-wise, think: Prometheus and fire. When other kids saw Kessler carving around the Upper West Side on his board ‚Äî which would‚Äôve been three inches wide with metal wheels ‚Äî they followed, and just like that, the East Coast skate scene was born. It was gritty, dirty, and beautiful, the shadow-version of the breezy West Coast surf-style. It still is.” >more
A final note in the Times about the Autumn bowl tribute.