I had a chance to sit down with my good friend Danna Black and speak with the guys behind Vision Street Wear China and talk about what it was like back in the day to work with VSW to bring their iconic styles into mainstream fashion. Vision was one of the first skate companies to go from core skateboarding to the public wanting it just as much as the pro skaters did. The designs were epic and and coveted to this day!

Leo Baker’s essay in Four Wheels and a Board

A new coffee table book about the history of skateboarding, the skaters, board graphics, and pivotal moments in skateboarding drops today.

Four Wheels and a Board, edited by Jane Rogers and Betsy Gordon, designed by Elise Crigar and Alex Barnes, and published by Smithsonian Books, chronicles skateboarding from its early surf roots to the recent 2020 Olympics.

Judi Oyama’s interview for Four Wheels and a Board

With essays and interviews from well know female and LGBTQ skaters throughout history, this is a book that every non-traditional skater should buy and read. Never before have these stories been told all in one place by the girls, women, and LGBTQ community that lived them.

At times the stories are very direct, and all are inspiring, coming from a marginalized group who forged their own way in a male-dominated industry. The essays and interviews are a factual look at the evolution of these non-traditional skateboarders. The book is filled with visual examples of these skaters’ history, and the layouts are stunning.

The cover of Four Wheels and a Board published by Smithsonian Books

You can order a copy of Four Wheels and a Board HERE

This week Erin Lopes talks with the founder of Girl is Not a 4 Letter Word, Cindy Whitehead, about her professional skateboarding career, her work giving back to women in sports, and the importance of creating equitable skate spaces for all skatepark users.

You can listen to it on SPOTIFY or APPLE PODCASTS

To learn more about the Delco Skatepark Coalition and to support its mission, go to: www.skatedelco.org