Jay Adams: The Godfather of modern skateboarding

On February 3rd, 1961, Jay Adams was born in Los Angeles, California. He would eventually become one of the world's most renowned skaters through his unique style and controversial character.

Jay Adams grew up in Venice Beach, a neighborhood of Los Angeles heavily influenced by the surf-skate culture and the punk-rock scene at the time. The Venice Beach from the 1960s is a complete juxtaposition to the Venice Beach is now.

During the late 1960s, Venice Beach was a troublesome neighborhood in Western Los Angeles. A mixture of local gangs and old hippies roamed the streets of Venice, giving birth to the rowdy surf-punk scene. It was often referred to as "the ghetto by the sea" by local residents

The region of Southern California was home to some of the most innovative surfing icons at the time. Kemp Aaberg, Lance Carson, Phil Edwards, and Mickey Dora were amongst the many known surfers who pioneered the sport in California.

Jay Adams grew up in an environment where one couldn’t shy away from surfboards or skateboards. At age four, his stepfather got him his first surfboard.

A natural-born talent that evolved into a unique style of surfing which displayed its exuberance in his early teens. He “earned his salt” from a very early age, and was respected a ‘grom’ amongst locals.

Jay Adams and his friends, Tony Alba, and Stacy Peralta would spend their days at the Zephyr Surfboards shop. Owners Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, and Craig Stecyk recognized their amphibious talents and began sponsoring the young group.

It was during the 1970s when skateboarding picked up momentum again. When Souther Californian lineups were flat and waveless, a new sport was gaining momentum on the tarmac.

Due to a massive drought in California, many families decided to empty their pools. The Z-Boys, would jump in and skate the pool walls as endless waves.

The Z-Boys formed in 1973, a group of young local surfers and skaters from Venice Beach. Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Allen Sarlo, Chris Cahil, and Nathan Pratt were the founding fathers.

The Zephyr team dissolved and so did the Z-Boys, after bigger brands began individually sponsoring members of the team. Both Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta would later go on and build successful skating careers with their brands.

His talent as a surfer and as a skater was arguably one of the best at the time, yet he chose the path of the anti-hero and deviated from himself.

After running into problems with law enforcement and narcotics, Jay Adams chose to live a modest life in Hawaii.

In his later years, Adams and Alba reunited and formed Z-Flex together. A modern skating brand bridging the old school with the new school. Nevertheless, he kept skating and surfing every day as a religious routine.

Stacy Peralta released 'Lords of Dogtown' in 2005, as a homage to the Z-Boys. Jay Adams is portrayed in the movie by Emile Hirsch.

The 'Dogtown and the Z-Boys' documentary was released in 2001, shining a light on many of the hardships Jay Adams went through growing up.

On August 15th, 2014, Jay Adams was found dead at age 53. Allen Sarlo, a lifelong friend of Adams’s claimed they went surfing all of Thursday and then he died Friday morning. Jay Adams left behind a remarkable legacy that still inspires skaters and surfers to this day.