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Skateboarding => USELESS WOODEN TOY BANTER => In Memoriam => Topic started by: layzieyez on February 23, 2023, 09:26:30 AM
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This year sucks.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/atlanta-ga/thomas-taylor-11170001
Edit: sorry, it took me a few days and different iterations in my mind what I had to say.
I moved from Honolulu, Hawaii to Stone Mountain, Georgia mostly to follow my dream of skating the urban spots that I saw Andy Howell skating. I knew I could go to college and my rich aunt (she came close to adopting me) would pay for my schooling so I did it.
Going from Hawaii that had a few core shops and a lot of well stocked surf shops at the malls to sporadically separated stores with no guarantee of having what you wanted was a shock and and outcome I hadn't prepared. It wasn't until one of my best friends I made and one of the handful of skaters in my high school in 1991, Joseph Moore, took me to Stratosphere. I never needed to go anywhere else once I talked to Thomas and he was stoked to hear I was an outsider coming to the scene. Next, to him on a stool sat professional Australian skateboarder (amazing doc marten wearing on vert) Adam Luxford (also approachable and just a cool dude).
Over the years, I had many conversations with Thomas and his well chosen employees over the years as I shopped for every board that is now considered a classic to go hit the spots nearby. Even though the shop moved around L5P, it was always an upgrade. In the early 90s when the crack epidemic was still heavily taking a toll on the surrounding areas in the ATL before the Olympics came in to get rid of Techwood, etc, just think what kind of patience you had to have to be almost adjacent to that as a business owner. Thomas weathered all that madness.
more soon, crying again...
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fuck, what a bummer. thomas was known to butt heads with a lot of people in atlanta but i know he was just as likely to stick out his neck for a lot of people, myself included. he did a lot for southern skateboarding and there's a whole in the atlanta scene that will never be filled. RIP.
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damn RIP. i just moved to the greater ATL area and stratosphere is a landmark in skating around here. that sucks.
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Holy shit. That’s heavy.
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RIP Mouse. The man dedicated his life to ATL skating and is down with everyone that matters and has mattered here.
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What a huge loss. Poor Grant
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RIP to a real skate rat
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The South lost a big one. Much love TT and Family.
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Oh man. This is a heavy bit of new. Thomas was 100% skateboarding through and through. Much love to the Taylor family and the entire ATL scene.
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I used to skate the ramps in the cul de sac at his house a couple times a week in the early 2000s. I was a shop rat and visited daily. On the days Tom was there we would talk about skateboarding, the industry, and where we thought things were headed. This is shocking and unexpected. I always hoped to visit Atlanta again and that he would be at the shop to say what’s up. This is truly sad news and my thoughts are with his family.
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RIP
I feel for GT, seemed like he looked up to his dad a lot.
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RIP Thomas. Condolences to the Taylor family.
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Rest in Peace Thomas and power to Grant and all of his family and friends :(
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RIP
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Damn RIP, at least he got to meet the next generation.
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RIP to a real one!
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He could he abrasive, but he could also the be light in the room.
His candle was an inferno. Thanks for all of it Thomas |||ATL|||
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Always wished there was more footage of him. Incredible skateboarder. RIP
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Anyone who hasn't seen this part should go watch it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iahohIQiIZ4
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He got me an Uber when I was 15 visiting atlanta with family and had skated from downtown to stratosphere close to dark. Great dude, RIP.
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RIP. Condolences to the family. Always stopped into the shop when getting tattooed down the street back in the day. Good People.
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He used to come up to Knoxville and skate at SK8 HUT in the late 1980's. I was a little grom so I didn't talk much, but I got to see him rip on the mini and do some of the highest frontside wall rides done in that little place.
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Literally saw dude at the shop last week talking to some kids and parents about getting their first board
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way way too young to go, RIP
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RIP ya skate legend. You lived like we all wanted to.
(https://i.ibb.co/rHwg6t5/Screen-Shot-2023-02-23-at-7-30-42-PM.png) (https://ibb.co/rHwg6t5)
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Obligatory cmon Tom
Huge loss for grant, the family, and the whole scene. RIP
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Fuuuuuck. Just watched the letters with footage from his plywood ramp in the 80s the other day. Everyone who matters seemed to respect him and that says more than words ever could.
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Never met him but he seemed larger than life.
Thank you for your contributions to our culture.
You will be missed by many.
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I owe him nearly all my skateboarding fun from 1992 to maybe 1995.
It's easy to buy whatever you want now, but it wasn't that way 30 years ago. He kept me skating when other shops were closing. Think of all those classic graphics and slick skin boards coming out in those days. I rode tons of world/blind/101/Underworld Element boards because I could count on him being stocked when I was at my physical peak and going through tons of boards.
He brought so many sick teams down to demo, too. The scene wouldn't have been solidly established without his homebase. So many dudes owe him.
RIP
The whole city owes him. I assume/hope there will be a memorial session at O4W like there was for Load.
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My condolences to his family and friends, looks like 2023 is starting out like 2022 all over again...
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What a fucking bummer! Condolences to the Taylor family. RIP to a true skate rat
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The community lost a real one - Skateboarding pillar and royalty.
My thought are with his family and friends.
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At my old job, we partnered with Thomas and his shop to throw a contest. I was coming in as an agency guy with a big soda brand as my client. I was already aware of the shop and ATL scene, and a bit intimidate going into it. Thomas was so cool and great to work with. His love for skating and fostering its growth in an authentic way was apparent. I really appreciate how cool and welcoming he was to me.
I remember we were driving around town with him and one of the locs, doing errands before the contest. We passed Grant at an intersection and Thomas made some funny joke about him, talking a little shit as Grant drove by. Such a fun and memorable weekend.
RIP to a real one. That dude was awesome.
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Major bummer. Never met Thomas, but heard his name mentioned a lot as a teenager growing up in North Carolina.
Friends who had been to, or were from Atlanta introduced me to Stratosphere skate shop and it was apparent just how next level the scene that had grown around that shop was.
RIP.
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RIP thomas taylor. skateboarding would not be the same without you. thoughts going out to all his family and friends.
if anyone is not familiar, the best comparison i can think of is that he was the jim thiebaud or steve rodriguez of the south east US.
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Any word on the cause?
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Dude ripped. Check his useless wood toys part. RIP Thomas
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Any word on the cause?
Heard heart attack
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Heavy news RIP
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Not sure if I met the guy when I visited stratosphere but grant and some people showed up mid way through me setting up a board and they gave us directions to some spots.
You could tell just by everyone’s energy in the shop dude had created something really cool and wholesome in that scene. Just the excitement and stoke they all had just hanging in the shop on a Monday afternoon was sick. I’m hurting for that community right now. RIP to a legend.
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Man grant and his dad seemed like best friends, i hope grant is doing alright.
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I had to delete the other post I had made and instead decided to edit my original post. It's difficult getting it all out.
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Met him back in 2018 & he’d be at the shop when I’d stop in as I go to GA a couple of times a year for family. Super nice & pretty unhinged but in a harmless manner. Went on about the one shop shirt & how they won’t be as good as the one I bought as the artist was “going on meds”. Regardless, great shop, kind staff & truly a shame.
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Heard heart attack
Not a heart attack, stomach issues.
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Sad to hear. RIP
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Noooooo. It's hard to overstate how much this dude did for Atlanta skating. Stratosphere was the only real shop in the city for years. From Torque Skateboards to skating the 40-yard to raising one of the greatest ever, Thomas was 100% skater. Rip in peace.
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Not a heart attack, stomach issues.
Thanks for the clarification
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R.I.P
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Noooooo. It's hard to overstate how much this dude did for Atlanta skating. Stratosphere was the only real shop in the city for years. From Torque Skateboards to skating the 40-yard to raising one of the greatest ever, Thomas was 100% skater. Rip in peace.
not to be that person but lets not forget Ruin, IMO, was the best shop ITP and OTP. no cool guy energy was ever detected there, where as strat kinda rode the coat tail of GT
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Noooooo. It's hard to overstate how much this dude did for Atlanta skating. Stratosphere was the only real shop in the city for years. From Torque Skateboards to skating the 40-yard to raising one of the greatest ever, Thomas was 100% skater. Rip in peace.
You kinda are being "that guy" posting that here. There is "cool guy" energy at Strat because that crew is sick and yeah that shit is exclusive, you don't get to just walk in and instantly hang out with everyone there. Strat > Ruin all day. One is (was) a skate shop outside the city the other is like the headquarters of skateboarding for the south and has been since he was on Cheshire Bridge.
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Noooooo. It's hard to overstate how much this dude did for Atlanta skating. Stratosphere was the only real shop in the city for years. From Torque Skateboards to skating the 40-yard to raising one of the greatest ever, Thomas was 100% skater. Rip in peace.
i never got cool guyed at strat because i had been skating in atlanta since the mid 2000's and knew people who hung around the shop but I have had friends, who live in atlanta, and acquaintances from out of town saying say they felt the energy when they went in there. respect to Tom and GT for everything they did for the scene but Ian and everyone over at Ruin were so much more conversational and were never too cool to help someone or have a random 30 minute conversation about wheelbase and other random skate nerd shit. Ruin also just had a way more of a selection of product which is why it was my homebase for the longest
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
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RIP and condolences to the family.
appreciate the shares in here about the life and videos and all that. seems like he lived an epic life.
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
My girlfriend, who isn't in the skate bubble but is certainly in the social media bubble said to me the other day, "Did you know Thomas Taylor committed suicide"? Not trying to pry into anyone's personal stuff but if true, I feel his and his families pain... Suicide is a serious issue in today's hyper-stress inducing society and I hope we can erase the stigma of seeking help, as it takes more of a person to ask for help when it's necessary instead of ignoring it or seeing it as weakness. The loss of Ben and especially Henry hit me really hard the last couple of years (not to mention Rusty), as I too suffer from constant suicidal ideation that can be a subconscious coping mechanism at the best of times and literal soul-crippling hellscape at the worst of times. We're just not meant to live the way our society has dictated as the "proper" path and even those outside that mold are susceptible to the pressures of being a human-being in an extremely fast-paced and stressful world, but I'll get off my soapbox for now.
Again, my deepest condolences to his friends, family and all the lives he touched.
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Noooooo. It's hard to overstate how much this dude did for Atlanta skating. Stratosphere was the only real shop in the city for years. From Torque Skateboards to skating the 40-yard to raising one of the greatest ever, Thomas was 100% skater. Rip in peace.
I didn't want to do this but I feel like this has to be addressed.
Pre-Olympics Atlanta was a whole different beast. "How many times have you ran into a crackhead in Cracklanta?" is all I gotta ask.
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RIP
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
My girlfriend, who isn't in the skate bubble but is certainly in the social media bubble said to me the other day, "Did you know Thomas Taylor committed suicide"? Not trying to pry into anyone's personal stuff but if true, I feel his and his families pain... Suicide is a serious issue in today's hyper-stress inducing society and I hope we can erase the stigma of seeking help, as it takes more of a person to ask for help when it's necessary instead of ignoring it or seeing it as weakness. The loss of Ben and especially Henry hit me really hard the last couple of years (not to mention Rusty), as I too suffer from constant suicidal ideation that can be a subconscious coping mechanism at the best of times and literal soul-crippling hellscape at the worst of times. We're just not meant to live the way our society has dictated as the "proper" path and even those outside that mold are susceptible to the pressures of being a human-being in an extremely fast-paced and stressful world, but I'll get off my soapbox for now.
Again, my deepest condolences to his friends, family and all the lives he touched.
It wasn't OD or suicide. It was organ failure brought on by living a full life.
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beautiful tribute https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/rip-in-peace-thomas-taylor/
big Love to the Taylor family/ATL scene
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
Or, you know, it's a totally private matter which is none of our business.
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
Or, you know, it's a totally private matter which is none of our business.
guy two posts above you all but confirmed it was alcohol-related:
It wasn't OD or suicide. It was organ failure brought on by living a full life.
all due respect to thomas and his massive legacy but let's not romanticize his passing like that. alcohol is a killer that's needlessly robbed skateboarding of so many major figures and while thomas did more than most of us will ever do in our lifetimes, dying at 55 of organ failure is hardly a "full life."
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if you read all the tributes in Thrasher it’s best summed up like this:
He built great scene in Atlanta but sucked on a personal level.
Even Grant’s and his sisters tributes are pretty distant feeling.
And yeah, he drank a lot.
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Weird I read from ATL heavy hitters in the article (Don Fred Stormy etc) that he was cool to them, as he was to me and everyone I knew. I don’t even think I know anyone here who he hasn’t hooked up at some point. Yeah he vibed people a lot. But you’re talking shit on a man who dedicated his life to skating and building a scene that has been flourishing for decades. Sorry you’re bummed that he liked beer. R.I.P. Mouse.
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Weird I read from ATL heavy hitters in the article (Don Fred Stormy etc) that he was cool to them, as he was to me and everyone I knew. I don’t even think I know anyone here who he hasn’t hooked up at some point. Yeah he vibed people a lot. But you’re talking shit on a man who dedicated his life to skating and building a scene that has been flourishing for decades. Sorry you’re bummed that he liked beer. R.I.P. Mouse.
No one disputes that he cultivated the scene.
Drinking yourself to death is a little more serious than liking beer.
People with big personalities also tend to have big flaws. He had a big personality. RIP
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
Or, you know, it's a totally private matter which is none of our business.
guy two posts above you all but confirmed it was alcohol-related:
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It wasn't OD or suicide. It was organ failure brought on by living a full life.
all due respect to thomas and his massive legacy but let's not romanticize his passing like that. alcohol is a killer that's needlessly robbed skateboarding of so many major figures and while thomas did more than most of us will ever do in our lifetimes, dying at 55 of organ failure is hardly a "full life."
That's actually no confirmation whatsoever, it's somewhere between speculation and hearsay, and has no more credibility than the post alleging he took his own life.
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Has cause of death been revealed? Typical deaths are always detailed as car accident, natural causes, etc... It's usually never revealed unless its accidental OD or suicide.
Or, you know, it's a totally private matter which is none of our business.
guy two posts above you all but confirmed it was alcohol-related:
Expand Quote
It wasn't OD or suicide. It was organ failure brought on by living a full life.
all due respect to thomas and his massive legacy but let's not romanticize his passing like that. alcohol is a killer that's needlessly robbed skateboarding of so many major figures and while thomas did more than most of us will ever do in our lifetimes, dying at 55 of organ failure is hardly a "full life."
That's actually no confirmation whatsoever, it's somewhere between speculation and hearsay, and has no more credibility than the post alleging he took his own life.
Not to mention how wack it is to talk negatively about someone who died. "Drinking himself to death" fuck off kook.
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There are certain reasons some of us stay silent on certain things.
I’ve written pages, if the server can confirm , that I have ultimately never posted because I asked one simple question before I hit post.
Does this make me better or worse?
Guess some of y’all don’t do that.
And no my judgement isn’t a 100% but I try to trust my gut.
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Dudes arguing about what Atlanta area shop was better in a guy’s death thread was one of the shittier things I’ve seen on here.
RIP Thomas.
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Thomas was never nice to me. Not once. ;D That’s not really true. Even though he seemed to despise my presence, he let me in on some secret spots, private ramps, that sort of shit. If you were skating he was… tolerant of teenage kookery. It was never personal. I doubt he ever remembered my name despite tagging along all the time with a buddy who skated for Strat and Torque. But he cared about skateboarding and did the right kind of quality control to keep Atlanta a sick place for it. He obviously meant a lot for the city. This was really evident when I moved back after many years away and the kids still all considered Strat the center of the universe generations after I did. He’s a legit legend.