andy kessler

there is a great video up on a blog at the nytimes of andy kessler, a skateboard pioneer in new york who died of an insect bite while surfing yesterday. the article in the blog is clearly written by somebody who never skated, and has several basic mistakes in it, but the video the guy produced and edited is superb. being a west coast kid, i never knew who andy kessler was, but i realized when reading the article that i rode a skatepark he designed in riverside park when i was 27 and getting back into skating after a 10 year hiatus. and, strangely enough, a friend i grew up with was staying with me in new york at the time and he rode the skate park with me. it was like we were 13 all over again. skating brings people together. you can see the video
here if you scroll down below the article. i still skateboard nearly every day and what kessler says about those few minutes each day when you are in the flow and cruising and playing off the environment around you jives with the ineffable feeling you get on a wave. i'd say waveriding is more intense, but the two are clearly linked on multiple levels.