by The Editors on January 25, 2023
The San Francisco Standard has an interesting piece on Thrasher owner Tony Vitello made up of quotes from a September 2022 interview in which he discusses Jake Phelps’ fentanyl overdose and why Thrasher didn’t mention Phelps’ cause of death when the news broke. And, more importantly, why Tony was even willing to speak about Phelps’ death with The Standard in the first place:
“There was some concern about Jake’s parent’s reaction to how he passed. And my position was—and has always been—that his family’s word is the word I go by. And that’s why we’re here in this interview today because Marie [Phelps] told me that she wants to talk about it and that she thinks it’s important to talk about.”
This appears to be a follow-up/add-on of sorts on The Standard’s previous story by David Sjostedt titled The Killer of a Skateboarding Legend Went Unnamed for Years. Could Deaths Have Been Prevented?
No one is ever happy with these kinds of stories. And yes, it’s kind of sus to point the finger at anyone for how they handled a personal tragedy while they were in the middle of it. Drugs are bad, kids. Don’t do ’em.
[Link: The San Francisco Standard]
by The Editors on March 15, 2019
Jake Phelps the loud, hard-living, punk rock, soul of skateboarding, and conscience of Thrasher Magazine for more than 26 years has died according to a March 14, 2019 post on the Thrasher website. He was 56.
“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,” said Tony Vitello, Publisher of Thrasher. “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.”
So far his cause of death has not been released. Our thoughts are with the entire Thrasher family. And we mourn along with skateboarders around the world.
[Link: Thrasher Magazine & SF Chronicle & Deadspin]
Photo: @BryceKanights
by The Editors on March 30, 2016
Willy Staley puts down a great profile of Thrasher Magazine mascot Jake Phelps in California Sunday. And the photos by Andrew Paynter make Mr. Phelps look every bit the lovable punk that he has become over the past two decades of putting a face to the Thrasher ethos.
Here’s the start:
I had spent only a few minutes with Jake Phelps before someone called him an asshole. It was a balmy October morning in San Francisco, at the tail end of the city’s reliably tardy summer. I found Phelps outside of a corner store at 24th and Valencia at the appointed time, dressed like half of a magazine editor: On top, he wore a crisp white oxford and a gray sweater vest, chunky black glasses, and a few days’ worth of graying stubble. But his pants sagged to mid-ass; his shoes had pentagrams stitched into the tongues. At his side he held his skateboard, which had dried rivulets of blood in the griptape.
Click the link for the rest and think about just how happy the rest of the Thrasher staff is to have a guy like Jake to dive on all these media grenades for them.
[Link: California Sunday]
by The Editors on February 3, 2009
You just never know the truth these days. According to a video posted on Thrasher Magazine’s website, Editor Jake Phelps says he “was fired yesterday” by High Speed Productions. Here’s what he had to say on the video clip:
Well I guess the who’s hated list that caused a lot of shit. But I got fired yesterday, I guess I’m going to have to keep skating more. . . . I don’t hate anybody. And I love everybody. Let’s all just keep skating. . . . If you have some more questions to ask me maybe I’ll tell you, we’ll go in a van on the road somewhere and I’ll tell you some funny stories and that will keep you occupied. . . . I’ll keep my own opinions to myself. I’m not a jock. I’ve done a lot of drugs. I’m just a regular guy and like I said, “The Truth Hurts.”
Though we know a lot of people who would celebrate Jake Phelp’s firing, we’re not going to start putting our party kit on just yet. . .
[Link: Thrasher Magazine]
by The Editors on September 9, 2019
Please excuse us while we clear out a bit of news that’s been piling up around the place. Some is new, some is old, and a bit is so old it’s beginning to stink. But we’re not going to let that stop us from posting it as a reminder of some of the news that went down while we were gone for the summer.
Follow the jump for all the links.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 24, 2019
All the headlines, no comments. Scan them, click them, read them, or just ignore them. A couple of these stories are worth reading and we’d point them out to you, but, well, that would take more time. You’ll just have to hunt them out yourself. Cheers.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 26, 2019
At this point see skate, snow, and surf headlines in our sleep and though we don’t seem to have time to snark this batch up, we still want them in an easy-to-scan format. So here they are as of March 25, 2019. Click the link for all the headlines you should have seen in the past few weeks (in no particular order, sadly) and enjoy the news.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on June 9, 2018
Mark “Monk” Hubbard, the mind and muscle behind Grindline Skateparks and the DIY skatepark movement in general died June 8, 2018 at his home in West Seattle, according to a story on Fox Q 13. His cause of death has not be announced. Hubbard was 47 years old.
For skateboarders across the world, Hubbard was a significant figure. In the early 90’s, he helped build Portland’s Burnside Skatepark, seen by many as the model for modern parks. “This guy invented DIY (Do it Yourself).” Thrasher Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jake Phelps said. “You see kids out there digging ditches for skateboarding, it’s because of Marty.” . . .Hubbard transformed his love of DIY skateboarding into a business. He and his Grindline crews built parks from Orcas Island to Israel with a passion that transcended a mere job.
We will think of him every time we roll the flowing lines of Mammoth’s Brother’s Skatepark. Hubbard is survived by his wife Jenny and three children Kaya, Leona, and Odin. Our thoughts are with them all. If you’d like to send a gift to support the family, please click the link for GoFundMe.
[Link: Q13 Fox & Thrasher Mag]
by The Editors on November 28, 2011
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Thanksgiving was a bit of a blur for us. While we were plowing asphalt to get to mom’s house Jake Phelps was picking Grant Taylor up at the airport with some good news. Taylor is Thrasher Magazine’s Skater Of The Year of 2011. You already knew this, but just watch it again with us and pretend it’s your first time.
[Link: Thrasher Magazine]
by The Editors on September 19, 2011
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency skateboarding columnist Joel Rice interviewed Wasserman Media Group Senior Vice President Circe Wallace to get a better understanding the wild, independent world of corporate skateboarding, and as usual she makes it all sound perfectly logical — especially the “sexy” part:
The characters are attractive! They have chiseled features and they dress flamboyantly! And, like, they’re sexy and they’re good looking kids! I mean Dylan Rieder… It doesn’t get much sexier than that! It’s like a boy band but better because they are actually doing something manly and it’s really aggressive, super-expressive and athletically intense!
Okay. We get the Dylan thing, but when she starts talking about drinking “Lucky Stripes” with Jake Phelps and Julien Stranger at 14 we kind of lost our way. But you should read the whole thing anyway.
[Link: McSweeneys via @CirceSnow]
