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Skateboard innovator Larry Stevenson passes away

Skateboard innovator Larry Stevenson passes away

THE death has taken place of Larry Stevenson whose designs revolutionised skateboarding. He was 81.

Mr. Stevenson was working as a lifeguard in Southern California in the early 1960s when he saw the first crudely constructed skateboards being used.

A keen surfer, Mr. Stevenson believed he could produce a better skateboard based on the shape of a surfboard. He set to work in his garage and produced the first of his revolutionary designs.

His board offered users a much smoother ride and was soon popular with the growing number of skateboarders.

Mr. Stevenson set up a company — which he named Makaha after the famous surf beach in Hawaii — to mass produce his boards. 

He encouraged professional surfers to take-up skateboarding, using his designs, as a marketing ploy for his company.

Business boomed with hundreds of thousands of people burying boards.

Mr. Stevenson continued to improve on his original design, adding the innovative ‘Kicktail’ in the early 1970s, following it up with the double kicktail.

The Makaha company continues to manufacture skateboards.

To view interview footage with Larry Stevenson, click here.

 

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