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‘Let’s hope heaven is a half pipe’: Skateboarding legend Jake Phelps mourned

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‘Let’s hope heaven is a half pipe’: Skateboarding legend Jake Phelps mourned

Jake Phelps, the esteemed editor of the skateboarding magazine Thrasher and an iconic legend in the skating subculture, has died.

He was 56. No cause or location of death has been released.

Phelps’ death was confirmed on Instagram by Thrasher’s publisher, Tony Vitello, who wrote:

“Jake Phelps was 100% skateboarder, but that label sells him way too short, because beyond his enormous influence in our world, he was truly an individual beyond this world. When loved ones pass we sometimes mythologize about their full lives rich in friendships and experiences. Sometimes we need to talk ourselves into believing it all. It makes us feel better, and helps us cope with the loss. Well, in the case of Jake, the task becomes wrapping your head around just how many lives one person could possibly live. He really did see it all, do it all, and that incredible brain of his could relish every last detail.”

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Jake Phelps was 100% skateboarder, but that label sells him way too short, because beyond his enormous influence in our world, he was truly an individual beyond this world. When loved ones pass we sometimes mythologize about their full lives rich in friendships and experiences. Sometimes we need to talk ourselves into believing it all. It makes us feel better, and helps us cope with the loss. Well, in the case of Jake, the task becomes wrapping your head around just how many lives one person could possibly live. He really did see it all, do it all, and that incredible brain of his could relish every last detail. But most of you reading this now identified primarily with Jake Phelps the skateboarder, and editor of our magazine, so I will leave you with this truth – I never met anybody who loves anything more than Jake worshipped skateboarding. Just as we need food and water to survive, Jake needed skateboarding to keep his blood pumping. It was more than a hobby or form of transportation or way of life – it was his oxygen. Here’s another thing. Jake never bailed. Jake fucking slammed. And there is a big difference. He only knew commitment. He was going to go for it without hesitation, and there were only two outcomes. Either you’d see his triumphant fist pumping in the air or it’d be an earth-shaking collision with the concrete. I remember him telling me once that he never fell backwards, he always fell forward. Leaning back meant there was hesitation, and Jake was all the way IN. There was no myth. The man was the myth. We love you, Jake. -Tony Vitello

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Clark Phelps, Jake’s uncle, said on a Facebook post Thursday evening that his nephew “died suddenly and easy today.”

According to Billboard.com, “Phelps was born in California on Sept. 25, 1962, and served as editor-in-chief of Thrasher for 26 years … leveraging his lifelong passion for skateboarding into a gig at the San Francisco-based sport’s bible, never giving up his love of riding. His middle-finger spirit was summed up by the mantra printed on his business cards: ‘Skate or Die.'”

According to a report on SFGate.com, Phelps was regularly seen cruising around hilly San Francisco on his skateboard. A bad spill in 2017 near Dolores Park that left Phelps with a serious head injury did not dissuade him from continuing his rebellious skating routines. It was not immediately clear whether that fall had anything to do with Phelps’ death.

Meanwhile online, fellow skaters joined with musicians, sports figures and other admirers on Friday to honor Phelps.

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#skateordie #jakephelps

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□□- rest in peace #jakephelps #phelps

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