The Skateboard Life

The Skateboard Life reveals and revels in how skateboarding—still criminalized in many places—has permeated and elevated our global culture, influencing media, art, fashion, music, sports, business, and education. Through profiles and more than 100 striking photographs, “America’s First Ambassador of Skateboarding,” Dr. Neftalie Williams, provides a definitive look at the most influential voices of skateboarding. The story of skateboarding’s rise is told through the tales of cultural luminaries, including legends such as Tony Hawk, Paul Rodriguez, Vanessa Torres, and Kareem Campbell; and celebrated Olympians like Nyjah Huston and Sky Brown.

The book covers artists, including Mark McKee, the Michelangelo of skateboarding art; Spike Jonze, the auteur filmmaker; and Glen E. Friedman, the photographer behind some of the most iconic moments in skate. It also highlights activists like Briana King, Vogue model, artist, skater, Amelia Brodka, women’s skateboarding entrepreneur and advocate, and Leo Baker, the unwavering knight for the LGBTQ+ community. Never before has this mega-roster of multi-generational, multi-gendered, and multiracial group of skaters and their impact on skateboarding and society been featured and discussed together in this depth.