Jay Adams Dead In Mexico at 53

I didn't know which pic of Jay to use- old prison tatted Jay or young Jay so I settled on this one. It captures multiple moments in time perfectly. For a lot of  people he was still trapped in the early empty pool skateboarding days- the guy played by Emile Hirsch. Undoubtedly, Jay was like any middle aged guy- he teleported back to those days often I'm sure. Also, as any human but especially somebody with his demons- how many people really knew him? At the very least there is plenty to wonder about the guy whose face is half hidden.

I have no clear recall how I learned about the type of skating he pioneered which involved low down free form moves borrowed from surfing. There were some pics and posters and magazines I saw somewhere and there is a vague recall of seeing something on TV or a movie. I fell for it though and slalomed down every paved and concreted hill in Decatur TX. Every drainage and every overpass was mine.

I could move from front to back of a moving skate deck like the average person could walk on a sidewalk and could ride sitting on my heels over the front deck as good as anybody around could ride in a traditional posture.

My first skateboard had a wooden deck and metal wheels. It could not have come into my possession anything after 1972.

A few years later a red plastic board with nylon or poly wheels materialized.

I still miss the metal wheeled board and can feel my legs vibrating thinking about that hunk of junk.

Even more I miss that dirty, sweaty feral boy who put thousands of miles on skateboards in the 7 square miles of Decatur. He drank hose water from random houses when the elderly lady who would offer lemonade wasn't well enough to watch for him and carried Coke bottles to Ray's for honey buns and chocolate milk to power through those miles. He got hassled by The Man and the Laird Brothers and the Owner of Lee's Grocery but Red the barber and Burt the barber were oddly cool to him.

I miss young Kev.

I bet old Jay missed young Jay to the end too.