In celebration of what would have been Jeff Grosso’s 53rd...

In celebration of what would have been Jeff Grosso’s 53rd birthday, Vans released a special posthumous Loveletters video, ‘Grosso Forever’. This one focussed exclusively on Jeff and was made up of a whole range of his clips and musings on life and skateboarding. It once again underlines his established role as the self-deprecating voice of skateboard folklore. Touchingly his son provides the intro and outro to the video.

Across social media his birthday has been celebrated with various posts. In essence, Jeff lives on. I share this gif from the video as it strikes at the heart of one my research interests in ageing skateboarders. In stark contrast to those who critique the middle aged skateboarder, there is no pretence here. Older skaters know of their fading ability and lack of cool.

Jeff kindly helped out with my research on skateboarding and religion and gave generous time discussing his own position. Little did he know how he himself would come to be another skateboarder made saint in the eyes of the culture.

Now go skate.