Andy Kessler, Skateboard Hero
Andy Kessler, who banded with graffiti artists to help give a distinctively New York spin to the nascent sport of skateboarding and then helped popularize it by designing skate parks, died on Monday near Montauk, N.Y. He was 48.
His sister, Jody Kessler, said he was stung by an insect while surfing off Montauk, had an extreme allergic reaction and suffered cardiac arrest.
Mr. Kessler was an early New York hero of skateboarding, a sport that probably began in California after World War II, when surfers looked for something to do when the waves were flat. It started to catch on in the early 1970s when boards were made with polyurethane wheels, improving traction. When, during droughts, local authorities prohibited the owners of swimming pools from filling them, skateboarders could not resist turning the steep concrete caverns into skating courses. continue reading
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