Phil Shao

Phil Shao
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born(1973-12-28)December 28, 1973
San Dimas, California
DiedAugust 23, 1998(1998-08-23) (aged 24)
Arcata, California
Sport
CountryU.S.

Phil Shao (December 28, 1973 - August 23, 1998) was a goofy-footed professional skateboarder and journalist from Redwood City, California.[1][2][3][4] Before his death, Shao was to be the next editor-in-chief of Thrasher magazine.[5][6]

Skateboarding career

Shao was featured in many skate magazines including Thrasher Magazine, Big Brother Skateboard Magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, TransWorld Skateboarding.[7][8] Shao graced the July 1996 cover of Thrasher magazine with a smith grind on the top rail at Fort Miley.[9][10] Shao was known as a master of many different styles of skating including street and vert.[11] Jake Phelps refers to Shao as "Hosoi and the Gonz in one dude."[12]

Shao appeared in many skateboarding videos in his career, traveling the world to skateboard.[13][4] His last video was "Dedications" from Think Skateboards, released shortly before his death.[14][15]

Skate video parts

Journalism

Thrasher Magazine

In addition to skating, Shao worked at Thrasher magazine as a copy editor.[14] Shortly before his untimely death, Phil was informed he was to be named Editor of Thrasher Magazine.[1][2] After Shao's passing, Jake Phelps stayed on as Editor-in-chief.[17]

Death

On August 23, 1998, Phil Shao died in a car accident in Arcata, California.[14]

Phil Shao Memorial Skate Park

In the summer of 2003, Redwood City collaborated with Phil's friends and family to build a skatepark dedicated to Phil called the Phil Shao Memorial Skate Park. The park is a 13,000 square foot skatepark with 5 bowls, rails, and ledges.[18]

Personal life

Shao had an English degree from the University of California at Berkeley.[19][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Staley, Willy; by, Provided (May 1, 2016). "Thrashed: How a San Francisco magazine came to rule the skating world". SFGate. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Phil Shao Memorial Skate Park | City of Redwood City". www.redwoodcity.org.
  3. ^ "Phil Shao Profile < Skately Library". skately.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Ogden, Luke (January 1998). "Phil Shao". Thrasher Magazine: 80–85.
  5. ^ Whiteley, Mark (November 1998). "Phil Shao remebrance". Slap: 72–73.
  6. ^ Phelps, Jake. "Thrasher Magazine Issue# 311." (2006).
  7. ^ "RIP Phil Shao". www.thrashermagazine.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  8. ^ "Autobiography - Christopher E. Brennen". authors.library.caltech.edu. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  9. ^ Halba (April 10, 2010). "Shao 1 baby!". TiltmodeArmy.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  10. ^ Williams, Neftalie. Colour in the Lines: The Racial Politics and Possibilities of US Skateboarding Culture (PDF) (Thesis). The University of Waikato.
  11. ^ Whiteley, Mark (August 19, 2014). "guest post: "the gnarler" phil shao by mark whiteley". the chrome ball incident.
  12. ^ Remembering Phil Shao, retrieved October 14, 2019
  13. ^ "Phil Shao skater profile. Online skate videos and video parts by Phil Shao. | Skatevideosite". www.skatevideosite.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  14. ^ a b c "Phil Shao - Friends and family talk about a late great.Friends and family talk about a late great". TransWorld SKATEboarding. July 30, 1999.
  15. ^ Thrasher: Insane Terrain. Universe Pub. 2001. ISBN 978-0-7893-0807-8.
  16. ^ "411VM - Issue 8 skate video soundtrack | Skatevideosite". www.skatevideosite.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "The Jake Phelps Interview". skatemorespots.com.
  18. ^ "Phil Shao Memorial Skate Park - Redwood City, CA". Yelp. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  19. ^ "Viskart:Remembering Phil Shao". Viskart (in Japanese).