R.I.P. Marc Johnson

[tuesday]

If you want to cry again... damn :-(

The full text to the post:

erinhirsh

No amount of mental preparation could have prepared me for the pain I feel over Marc’s passing. I feared this day for many years. In a way, I’m relieved that his suffering is over.

He was the sweetest, most complicated person I have ever known. My time with Marc was a blessing. I can honestly say I loved him more than he was capable of loving himself. I did everything in my power to help him see his brilliance and worth.

Our relationship was otherworldly and defied logic. We often joked that his brain was jazz and mine was math.

My only wish is that his sweet soul is finally free from pain.

Marc was a genius, on and off the board. I’ve often heard people say he was the Van Gogh of skateboarding, I believe that to be true. For better or worse, he felt everything deeply. He struggled to let go of old narratives and carried an immense amount of guilt related to Avery.

In the end, he struggled to manage the responsibilities of day to day life. Perhaps he hit his head one too many times…. perhaps it was a dangerous combination of mental illness and addiction? I don’t know. What I do know is that he suffered.

For those who feel they were conned out of money by Marc, I think it’s important to set the record straight. Marc was morally scrupulous and genuinely humbled that people in skateboarding still gave a f**k about him. He felt rejected by the world he had given everything to. He wasn’t able to fulfill orders because of his deteriorating mental capacity, not because he intended to deceive anyone.

I will forever be grateful for his love and for the way he showed up for Cairo.

I love you, Marc. I look forward to seeing you in my dreams. ✨

Rest in peace, #222🕊️❤️

[Mongo Lloyd]

One thing I appreciate outside of the man himself was that he’s one legend that gave us more than enough.

We all want more prime Penny footage, or Natas footage, or whoever else, but Marc really left us with a robust body of work. That is something that is pretty rare in this industry, even from just an injury perspective.

[lurkluke]

Growing up in rural NZ we didn't have much access to skate media. Our crew had like, four videos, one was the 411 with his part. There's no part that we all loved equally, and that takes me back to long summer days skating with our small crew, more than that one.

RIP.

[JamesFardy]

Rest in peace, Marc.

[Shortys Hardware]

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Absolutely heartbreaking.

[close]

Sorry but can someone post the text for those of us without IG? Thank you in advance.

[close]

Thank you, for everything, your lessons, your sweet and gentle nature, your blunt and honest opinions, your understanding of things no one else could. You supported me in whatever I did. You gave me the world. You showed me a life I’ll forever be grateful for. You did it all. I keep watching memories play in my head like they happened seconds ago and hearing your words as if you had just spoken. Haunting and comforting all at once. I know you’ll always be there for me, anytime, anywhere.
I love you so much.
Rest easy and shine brightly.
Until we meet again.

[close]

I wish I was this eloquent, this was beautiful, god damn my heart hurts

[close]

It makes me even more sad to realize he’s likely named after Chris Avery, filmer for Tilt Mode, who passed away far too early as well.   

Rewatching those TM videos made me realize all the losses the industry has had to endure with Tim Brauch once being a tragic outlier, but remembering Jesse Erickson who passed recently too.   Skateboarding has seen too much death lately

Wait...what??? Chris Avery passed? when?

[botefdunn]

@DISTANT RUMOURS really appreciate you reposting that here, thank you and thank you Erin.

[GuessAgain?]

An undeniable skate legend. He really gave it all to the culture. Rest easy Marc.

[Nom De Plume]

Oh my god.

[skatevirginia]

Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[WadeDes]

As many of you a kid of the fully flared era. This one really hit me hard, had multiple cries the last two days and many reminisce watching parts, reading interviews, etc. Its great to see this topic and how much people are bonding and sharing. I feel weird for crying about someone I never met, yet he had a huge impact on me. Thank you all for sharing. Thank you for skating Marc!   

[Bugsytootsie]

Thanks for sharing that 411 part. Couldn't stop crying  :'(
Think thats the only part I havent seen from him until now and its such a beautiful watch. Rest easy Marc.

[fur lined sea]

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Assigning blame to others (or assigning it to anyone, whatsoever) does not honor Marc, it won't bring peace to his loved one or yourself - it instead reactivates and spreads the very turmoil that MJ suffered.

[close]

This is a near-perfect summation of what's going on and I would have like to have gnar'd you 200 times for it.

Alexactly, that was eloquently put. 

I really resonated with your first post in here, too:

I saw someone on twitter posts a series of MJ clips apropos of nothing, and I immediately felt a pit in my stomach. I’d worried about this guy for years, but always expected he’d have the comeback of the century. Rushed here to see this thread… been stunned on my couch, watching his parts on my phone the past two hours.

It is so strange how grief for pro skateboarders who I’ve never even met cuts so deeply. I remember when Shane Cross died, even though I wasn’t all that much a fan of his skating, I was affected in a way that I did not expect. Dylan’s passing was the only one of the avalanche of 2016 celeb deaths that caused me to shed tears. Come to think of it, the only non-skater “famous person”’s death that caused me to cry was David Berman.

Losing Marc is going to take years to digest. Difficult to imagine someone who dedicated himself more wholly to his craft, who put more of himself into realizing a vision, who had such preposterous levels of talent combined with such (literally) maniacal drive. He was so obviously troubled for so long. At his peak, it seemed clear that he achieved such outrageous levels of greatness at severe personal cost.

So much to unpack. It’s so crazy to revisit the Seven Steps to Heaven part and remember that he used to be a Puleo-esque “underground secret” kind of figure. I don’t think any other viewing of a video part left me as reeling and dumbfounded as seeing his Yeah Right part at a premiere at Active Temecula in 2003. How many other figures are in the same pantheon? 5? 10? He left an oeuvre that is utterly immortal.

Rest in Peace

Those instagram posts are heavy, but these other glimpses into Marc’s life are touching.

It’s insane to think I can even recognise his handwriting from the map in Erin’s post. When someone pours everything into their craft, you can’t help but absorb every little bit of it. It just stays with you.

[TheLurper]

@Alexactly  Great job. You Said what I was trying to say but without my wordiness/over explaining. 

And, Erin said what could only be said by those who knew him personally. A perspective none of us have. At best, we only shared brief moments with Marc or watched his career from afar.

Marc was humble and critical of himself, genuine and thoughtful, which made his interviews with Chromeball, O'Dell, and Ian stand out amongst the billions of skate interviews that clutter our lives. In these interviews, he told us time and time again about the sacrifices he made in other parts of his life for skate boarding, the struggles he had throughout his entire career, and how he attempted to cope with the stress, burnout, and regret that comes from being on the road and pushing himself beyond his limits. He clearly stated how his coping mechanism often caused more pain.

The honestly and clarity he shared in these interviews is part of his legacy. Just as he gave us parts that no one else could have done, he gave us a view of skateboarding that few are capable of offering. He didn't accept or look for the easy answers in skateboarding.

The quotes that stick with me are when O'Dell asked him about if the sacrifices he made for his Fully Flared part were worth it, he simply responded "I can't answer that...[I'm not going to say, 'Yeah, it was all worth it' and 'I'm not going to say, 'It wasn't worth it.']" And then he went on to paint a nuanced picture of what it is like to create the beauty he gave us.

In his Nine Club interview, after discussing the pain the transition from one company to the next caused him, he stated, "I'm not here to turn anyone against anyone... What happened at the very end of that was just one shitty drop in an otherwise pretty God damn awesome bucket... we made magic."

Focusing on one blip of his career and rehashing drama that Marc mostly kept quiet about goes exactly against what he clearly stated he wanted in his Nine Club interview. It is simple narrative placed on top of complex story. I think while grieving it is natural to look for an easy answer, but Marc always tried to look past to the surface to really understand a situation.

This is what I remember and respected about him. What I remember is how much I enjoyed nerding out over skateboarding with him, because he was excited to explore the complexity of a situation. There was never a simple answer. He always looked for and found the depth.

I think, instead of searching (and peddling) easy answers, Marc would really want us to think about his legacy and skateboarding as whole. Appreciate what he gave us all, but consider the sacrifice it took for him to give us so much. Appreciate the amazingness of skateboarding, but also understand how it scars us as well.

I don't know. This one hits me hard not simply because of his skateboarding, but because I truly appreciated his views on skateboarding. Dude saw skateboarding in ways most people refused to and he looked at his place in the scene with more honesty and reflexivity than most. His video parts were amazing, but there is a reason his Jenkem interview was probably the most liked interview/article in skateboarding for a long time. His nuanced interpretations of skateboarding are important part of the legacy he left behind.  :'(

[Sandwich Marty]

Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

[fur lined sea]

Lurper, whole heartedly agree!

I revisited his nine club and you’re so right about how he conducted himself about the whole ordeal. His whole tone changed and you could tell he was still processing and grieving over it.

The phrase ‘help shaped skateboarding’ used to get thrown around a lot, but it actually 100% applies to Marc. Who else was trying to pour their creativeness and love into other areas of skateboarding that didn’t involve just filming? He not only did that for two decades, but on top of filming video parts year after year after year. Never phoning it in. Plus being involved in videos that we will forever talk about all day long on here.

As an outsider looking in, I want to say he probably drove a lot of those projects, whether it was intentionally or unintentionally. That type of drive that lifts everyone else up. Those people are fucking rare. He gave it all to skateboarding.

[skatevirginia]

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Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[close]

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

Your gaslighting is what I'm talking about. To each their own though.

[Sandwich Marty]

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Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[close]

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

[close]

Your gaslighting is what I'm talking about. To each their own though.

1. Understand what gaslighting is before misusing it and making yourself look like an even bigger dunce.

2. Marc wasn’t murdered by the Rosicrucians  as a part of any illuminati ritual killing you window licking bafoon. Lay off the mushrooms and get a fucking job.

[apport]

“deteriorating mental capacity” is gnarly phrasing, damn

[Burt Ward]

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I work next to the spot where his opening line from yeah right is, so get this little daily reminder of how how lucky it was to grow up in that 00’s era of skating, hearing all these new bands in parts, I’ll never get tired of either. that small memory just takes you back and breaks up the day to day of adulthood is something I’m very thankful to have. RIP Marc

[close]

Was that at the Toyota in Hollywood? Or North Hollywood? He had tricks (many of them) at both spots.

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Is it not some spot in Australia? I was thinking Aragon school but that's Pretty Sweet I think...with the bs noseblunt opener.

Melbourne CBD. I had just moved there when YR came out and it got me stoked to see it

[j....soy.....]

Maybe this is a call to be kinder….

[skatevirginia]

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Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[close]

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

[close]

Your gaslighting is what I'm talking about. To each their own though.

[close]

1. Understand what gaslighting is before misusing it and making yourself look like an even bigger dunce.

2. Marc wasn’t murdered by the Rosicrucians  as a part of any illuminati ritual killing you window licking bafoon. Lay off the mushrooms and get a fucking job.

I have a really well established business. You must be like 26 with your impatience. Chill out man.

[augustmoon]

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Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[close]

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

[close]

Your gaslighting is what I'm talking about. To each their own though.

You need to go away from here

[Jebediah]

Nine club is live

https://www.youtube.com/live/8H1SyWacerA?si=CNSoyw25T0uHkYXw

[skatevirginia]

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Seems like a robin williams/Chester Bennington/Chris Cornell type of thing. It’s always the ones who are setting big goals that this happens to. All layers of culture have been infiltrated. They had to remove Phelps first. I’m getting at this was a ritual. But if you call it that virtue signaling hive minded people will shame you for it and then give some dramatic speech about mental illness. Ironic how nyjah got another black eye to coincide with it.

[close]

Asking a mod to ban this idiot just off principle

[close]

Your gaslighting is what I'm talking about. To each their own though.

[close]

You need to go away from here

What if i'm not wrong?
You used to have to post perfect footage and have a good reputation for sales to matter on skate forum. Now gen z shit for brains have the authority I guess. Anyway, I won't bring it up again. It's sad to see people here acting like this.

[matty_c]

That is tops

[GardenSkater77]

@DISTANT RUMOURS really appreciate you reposting that here, thank you and thank you Erin.

The part that got me is how he felt forgotten about by the industry that he gave ‘everything to’. The guy got caught in a shoe war and it sent him spiraling. I am happy to hear that SLAP pals by way of commissioning his art made him happy, even if he couldn’t follow through. I’m glad he had Erin. She seems like a kind sole.

[skateboardnorth]

I was gifted a bootleg VHS copy of The Best of 411 volume 4 when I first got into skating.  I instantly fell in love with Marc Johnson's part skating to The Promise Ring.  I didn't know much about skating back then, but his tricks and style were instant standouts.  That part still fills me with nostalgia and makes me want to pull up my socks and go skate.  Years ago when I heard about him struggling with alcohol it really broke my heart.  Suffice to say I am now in shock that he's gone.  Rest In peace.

[JANUS]

I’m trying to process this while swamped with like 24/7 work shit. Once I finish the work crud, I might need a cry. And to thoroughly read the thread. Watch some old vids. Definitely need to go skate. MJ has always had a special place in my heart.

[dubee]

I’m trying to process this while swamped with like 24/7 work shit. Once I finish the work crud, I might need a cry. And to thoroughly read the thread. Watch some old vids. Definitely need to go skate. MJ has always had a special place in my heart.

That’s fair. I woke up yesterday sad. I cried. Then cried some more.

[91FeelGoodOnWood]

Reading about everyone crying got me tearing up. Thanks Marc we miss you.