A friend of mine from back in my rural days sent me this recently- 1990:
The dude sitting on his board behind me was one of three of my biggest influences, but he was really jockish (unlike the other two guys, also he constantly bragged about being from Cali). He literally quit skating after I learned how to kickflip while rolling (he used to bend down really far and have his feet really overdone). There were only four of us in the school that skated, me being the youngest, and I think me being a freshman and him being a senior taking part in a then/there hated activity messed up his ego. He went on to impregnate a bunch of chicks.
Anyway, my friend won some statewide and a national high school photographers awards, and it was on the cover of our very tiny parish's newpaper.
COVAAAZ BABY
Deck: Ray Barbee's first one, I remember having to reset-it-up because I had broken a different board. I was also riding T-Bones, getting the little Bones newsletter, and entered the Powell design contest that Cliver won (not that I was any actual competition). They sent a lot of stickers to me though, and that was like gold. Also: rip grip on the nose, oh yeaaaah.