Bruce Walker Profile

"The Godfather of Florida Skateboarding"

Bruce Walker has influenced the lives of every skateboarder in Florida directly or indirectly.  He is the George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life) of Florida Skateboarding.  If Bruce weren't around Florida things would definitely have been different.  The list of pro and amateur skaters that have ridden for him is a who's who of Florida skateboarders.  His leadership role as a sponsor seemed to overflow into an elder example of how to be a skater for life.  I would bet that Bruce sponsored more Florida skaters than any other 2, 3, or 4 sponsors combined.  His attitude toward sponsorship was also quite unique.  His Pros would have signature models for years well past their sales market prime.  Take a brief moment and think how cool that is.  While most skate companies churn and burn through their Pro riders with a "love 'em and leave 'em" standard, Bruce would endorse his Pro's for years and welcome them back after "leaving the nest".  Heck, Chris Baucom got a Walker signature model after a skate accident that effectively lost his spot on Powell-Peralta's Bones Brigade and stalled his involvement in competitive pro skating .   I'd love to have a Walker Chris Baucom model now!  Jim McCall  probably had a signature model longer than just about any pro, anywhere.  If Bruce was still a manufacturer there would still be a Jim McCall model, I'm sure of it.  Amazingly, Bruce has been involved in just about every Florida skateboard event from the 70's up to the present time, either as a sponsor, judge, emcee, or contender.  The kids that effectively purchase all skateboard products, since day one, want a company to associate with that is by skaters, for skaters, not phony, not money hungry, but full of the heart and soul of why we all skate.  Walker Skateboards possessed that...and luckily for a lot of us Bruce's roots were here in Florida.   

Jim McCall - "Bruce Walker is a living legend in the world of skateboarding!  (He) helped pioneer the sport in the early 1960's.  His style is smooth, fluent and original.  And anyone that sees Bruce skate will instantly detect a true professional flowing effortlessly with grace.  

Personally, Bruce Walker has influenced my life greatly since I met him around 1975.  He has been many things to me.  From a competitor, to a board sponsor, to a coach, to an employer, and most important of all, "a really great friend"!

Over the years Bruce Walker has unselfishly spent hours and hours of inspirational wisdom to hundreds of skaters and surfers, to educate and to lift them to their ultimate level of performance.

Bruce Walker is a true champion who deserves a first place trophy not only in skating and surfing, but in life itself, "for just being Bruce Walker"!"

Kelly Lynn  -  "One of the true founding fathers of Skateboarding. A figure head and promoter of the sport since the beginning of competitive skateboarding in the mid 70's. Bruce skates with a combination of power and grace that still goes unmatched. Skating and doing demo's to this day, inspiring and motivating skaters of all ages."

(Click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge photo and read text.)

1975: A Who's Hot profile in Skateboarder Magazine V2#1!  This was Skateboarder's first mag after a 10 year hiatus.  Notice they don't even have the Who's Hot button logo yet.  Reading this profile again so many years later simply reinforces my belief of his influence on Florida.  We were all riding Bahne's, under highway overpasses, and ramshackled wood ramps pieced together...many of us after reading this profile.

  Was Bruce the original skate Tarzan?  Check out Bruce above hangin' in the tropical Banyan tree then check out this pic.  Disney actually used Tony Hawk as a model for many of Tarzan's skate-like moves...but I think Bruce would have made a better Tarzan.  Just look at him, he looks like Tarzan!  Aaaaeeaeeaaaaeeaeeaaaaa!  Aaaaeeaeeaaaaeeaeeaaaaa!  Lord Walker I presume?  (I don't know why I came up with this, hey I've got small kids, and saw this right after I was putting this together and had a good laugh at the similarities!)

Phil Chiocchio (Sensation Basin)  -  "Watching Bruce Walker on his extra long board was always an intriguing opportunity. His lanky body would arch and convolute during his unique freestyle routines. It would look like a certain element of gravity would cause him to tumble, but he never did. His smooth sway atop this giant board was such a contrast to the others that it showed off his individual style in a way that caught your eye and held you somewhat spellbound for the moment. At the Spring Time Tallahassee Parade in 79 or 80 Bruce pulled off some great carving spins to thunderous applause from an audience who had never seen such gymnastic gyrations before.  

As a businessman, Bruce Walker's company supplied us consistently and fairly.  Sensation Basin enjoyed working with his product line and the quality of his service and products made the relationship ongoing. The teams he sent to compete at Sensation Basin always looked professional, with matching jerseys and their winning attitudes made for a heightened state of anticipation during every visit."

An early pioneer: Bruce navigates a hand made FOX longboard at the beautiful and shady grounds of Tomoka Moonforest skatepark.

Chris Baucom  -  "As far as Bruce goes, he pushed harder for Florida skaters to get noticed than anyone ever did. He took care of Rodney and me before anyone else would even pay attention to Florida skaters. I haven't spent much time with him since his wedding a few years ago. Walker supported skateboarders because he loved the sport. We had some unbelievable skate trips together-some of the most fun I've ever had. He's the best."

Scott "Red" McCranels  -  "Hi Stevo, There's a lot of memories of Bruce Walker, and it's a combination of surfing and skating over the years. The part that sticks out of both sports is the father figure or coach type role that Bruce usually played in a lot of other kids lives. Don't get me wrong Bruce was very competitive himself, but he was always interested in motivating and pushing teammates to bring out the best in their capabilities. Bruce always looked like he was thinking and never seemed relaxed, kinda like he was always thinking of a strategy to win the next heat or round. It's amazing to this day that Bruce is still going strong and could give any 12 year old a run for the money when it comes to the level of enthusiasm it takes to pursue the great sports of surfing and skateboarding!!!"

Slicing the glass at California's Concrete Wave.

Alan "OLLIE" Gelfand  -  "Bruce Walker was always working for the sport of surfing and skateboarding in Florida, he helped more skaters in Florida than anybody else."

Very few skaters ever got a full interview in Skateboarder Magazine.  Bruce put Florida on the map in the early stages of 70's skateboarding.  His non-egotistical personality was the antithesis of the California skate scene.  

Matt Kechele writes:  -  "BRUCE WALKER HAS BEEN A GREAT INFLUENCE TO ME AND MANY OTHER TOP PRO SKATEBOARDERS AND SURFERS.  BRUCE REALLY WAS A BIG PART OF INFLUENCING ME TO CONTINUE WITH THE SURF SKATE CROSSOVER CORRELATION.  HE RECOGNIZED THAT BY PUSHING HARD WITH BOTH, EACH CAN GROW TO COMPLIMENT ONE ANOTHER.  HE ENCOURAGED, WHILE OTHERS DISCOURAGED OR DID NOT UNDERSTAND THAT SURFING AND SKATEBOARDING TRULY DO CONNECT...BRUCE  SET A GOOD COMPETITION FOUNDATION FOR ME WHEN I WAS YOUNG COMING THROUGH THE RANKS AND MANY THINGS THAT HE TAUGHT ME I HAVE PASSED ON TO OTHER GENERATIONS THAT HAVE GONE ONTO GREATNESS... HE  HAS ALSO INSPIRED ME WITH A WORK HARD PLAY HARD MENTALITY...THAT REALLY EXEMPLIFIES BRUCE ...AT THE LAST SURF EXPO MY FRIENDS AND I WERE WATCHING HIM SKATE WITH ALL THE OTHER KIDS ON THE INDOOR RAMPS WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE PULLS A FULL BERT REVERT ROUND HOUSE TAIL SLIDE THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYONE DO FOR YEARS.. BUT HE THRIVES ON PULLING STUFF LIKE THAT OUT OF HIS HAT.  THE GUY HAS BEEN DOING IT ALONG TIME... KIDS, WATCH AND LEARN, IF YOU CAN GET CLOSE TO BRUCE YOU CAN LEARN A LOT ...THANKS BRUCE ..YOUR FRIEND MATT KECHELE"

Early Florida ramp.

Mike McGill  -  "If there was a Dogtown Movie made about Florida, Bruce would definitely be one of those guys" 

Bruce laying it down baby!  No shoes, squirrelly little board, splintery wood with nails, who says riding hand rails is the gnarliest thing there is!

Buck Smith  - "Bruce gave me my start in skateboarding"

Paul Schmitt  -  "I can remember being in Bruce's retail store in '80 and being like a kid in a candy store looking at the UFO wheels in the case that had the triangle in them.  A few years later Bruce would sell me trucks, wheels, bearings and griptape to put on my boards so I could sell completes at the local surf shops.  This helped me get started selling boards.  I always thought Bruce was just an old surf dog when I was growing up.  Nowadays I know that he just loves to skate as much as he always has."

"Hey Steve, the Bruce Walker interview is great!  He is definitely one of the all time greats, rock on....." John Lucero..

Bruce Walker Interview

November 2001

How old are you this year and at what age did you start skateboarding?

I’ll be 50 years old on December 11, 2001.  I started skateboarding in Hawaii in 1963 at age 11 on a steel-wheeled 2x4 that I borrowed from a neighbor.  It was a death machine but I immediately got the feeling and knew right away that there was some potential to this new sidewalk surfing thing. 

 What attracted you to skateboarding?

The speed.  The wind in my face.  In my initial experience it was easy to balance and stay on, but with increasing acceleration down the hill it was hell figuring out how to stop or end the ride.  We would just jump off and try to run it out in our bare feet.  Turning was not an option on steel wheels.  In fact nothing was an option on steel wheels except simply hanging on and hoping for the best.   

 Do you still get to skate and surf much?

Yes, although not like when I was a kid.  I’ve been riding skateboards consistently for the past 38 years, throughout all three skateboard industry crashes.  Each time, the “fad” was supposedly over.  My friends & I would just laugh at the stupidity.  How can you stop skateboarding?  I think most of us know that you can’t really stop once you become a skater.  I was stalled out once for 10 months in 1968 though, because my Super Surfer trucks broke and I faced the grim reality that there were no longer any skateboard companies or products available.  I finally found a toy distributor that had skateboards leftover from the 60’s, stashed in the back warehouse collecting dust.  I bought an assembled Super Surfer with hard clay wheels for $4.95 and an assembled, laminated Hobie for $7.95 and I was back riding again.

Surfing and skateboarding at an older age has more to do with management of your body than anything else, since you can’t just go full blast like when you were a youth.  The responsibilities of adulthood limit your exposure as well, although that can be a good thing as far as saving your body for later use.  The importance of doing stretches before a session becomes paramount along with limiting how long your session lasts.  For example, my brain will want to skate for 3-6 hours at a time but my body can really only handle 1 hour sessions without feeling it heavily later.  So I manage and limit my sessions so I can live to skate another day.  I probably skate one to two times per week. 

 What were some of your favorite spots to skate in Florida over the years?

I enjoyed every spot I ever skated, even the lame ones.  I always liked the challenge of adapting to lousy conditions and trying to make it work.  I have good memories of the world’s first skate park, Skatboard City in Port Orange, simply because it was so bizarre to be skating concrete built specifically for skateboarding.  This was an unheard of concept at the time.  The design of the park was terrible but we had nothing to compare it to so we thought it was cool.  In later years, Kona USA (Jax), Sensation Basin (Gainesville), IHB (Indian Harbour Beach), Skateboard USA (Hollywood), Groundswell (Ft. Pierce), Bro Bowl (Tampa), Clearwater Skate Park, and the Turning Point Capsule come to mind as places I spent a lot of quality time.  I also loved bombing hills in Pensacola.  That’s where I first became interested in riding longboards.  Stone Edge (Daytona) is probably my all time favorite spot, most specifically the Nine Bowl.       

I saw your name on last years Kona longboard contest results?  I hope they do that this year again; I’d like to get a crew from down south and road trip it next year.  How was that event?

Martin Ramos has put together an impressive and historic event that will be going into it’s fourth year in 2002.  The first three Kona Longboard Championships were a blast with a lot of participation from skaters all over the country.  Dave Hackett, Steve Olson, Paul Schmitt, Buck Smith, Todd Johnson, Scott Green, Chuck Dinkins, Binky Conklin, Hunter Joslin, Mitch Kaufman, Robert Cortes, Andy Kessler, Chuck Hults,  and many other throwbacks from the past have made appearances at the Longboard event along with a whole new crew of modern longboard rippers.  Somehow I feel confident that I’ll see you guys at Kona in 2002.     

Tell us about the early FOX surfshops you were affiliated with, the people, the locations, and a brief story of how you evolved into Ocean Avenue Surfboards and Walker Skateboards.

My current skateboard business started 30 years ago at South Beach, Miami.  My original partners were Lewis Graves and Ted James.  Ted owned Fox Surfboards in West Palm Beach and Lewis and I were college students in Miami.  Putting up $800 each, we started Fox Surf Shop February 6, 1972 on Fifth Street where we worked for only $2.00/hour.  One year later we moved to Ocean Drive.  This was twenty years or so before South Beach became the big hub of fashion and modeling.  We skated on the smooth concrete of the South Beach Pier, which is no longer there.

My difficulty in finding skate equipment was one of the motivations in starting the business.  We pretty much had to get things going from scratch without any help.  There were no skate companies at all.  We bought out the local toy distributor’s entire inventory of several hundred Super Surfer 24” flat, solid oak skateboards.  Even though skateboarding had supposedly been dead since the 60’s, we immediately began selling the hell out of those boards and wondered what we were going to do when we ran out of stock.  Fortunately, the first manufacturers began to appear, like Roller Sports, Cadillac Wheels, and Bahne.  We began our own production of Fox Skateboards which included both short and longboards.  Today’s skateboard industry was thereby born and evolved before our very eyes.    

In 1978, with Fox locations in Miami Beach and Melbourne Beach, Lewis and I bought out Ted James’ share of the business.  Ted had opened Fox in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on his own and took on a partner, John Parton at Fox in West Palm Beach.  We were always very proud of the Fox name.  Ted’s company had a great reputation to begin with and I think Lewis and I helped enhance it even more.  It wasn’t an easy decision, but in order to keep things from being confusing to suppliers & customers, we decided to change the name of our company to Ocean Avenue Surfboards and Walker Skateboards.  The Fox Surf Team became the Ocean Avenue Team and the Fox Skate Team became the Walker Team.  To this day I owe a debt of gratitude to Lewis Graves, who unfortunately passed away recently, and especially to Ted James because he was the one who gave us the opportunity to go into the surf and skate business.   

 What does Ocean Avenue Distribution do?

Ocean Avenue sells skateboards and accessories to stores throughout the USA as well as in many foreign countries.  Our 30^th anniversary will be coming up in February 2002.

When did you stop making Walker Skateboards…and why?

I discontinued making Walker products around 1991.  The reason was simply that I was working too hard and life was no longer as enjoyable as it should have been, so I did something about it.  Keep in mind that in addition to two retail stores, skateboard manufacturing, and surfboard manufacturing, my company was also a wholesale distributor of a lot of different brand name skateboards and equipment to other shops since the early 70’s. In trying to run a surfboard company with a full surf team, along with a skateboard company with a worldwide skate team, along with product development, product production, ad preparation, advertising deadlines, full distribution warehousing, coaching the USA National Surf Team, maintaining a family life, and on and so forth . . .  I was simply involved in too many things, spread myself too thin and it no longer allowed me to retain an acceptable standard of life.  I discontinued all product manufacturing, stopped making surfboard runs up the East Coast, and essentially decided to concentrate all my effort, energy and finances on the skateboard distribution aspect of my business.  The burden that was lifted from my shoulders was enormous and looking back on it a decade later, I have no regrets.  I loved every bit of it for all the years it lasted.  I wouldn’t trade the past for anything, but I am very happy today and I’m definitely able to be more effective in my skateboard business by being totally focused on distribution.    

 Walker Skateboards was THE Florida skateboard company.  It has such a legacy that I could picture a specialty line of boards today…you know like the surfing business is doing now with the longboards by Robert August and all those legends; they have a unique market.  Walker could reissue a Jim McCall freestyle board, a Bruce Walker longboard, pool/vert boards by Mark Lake, Shawn Peddie, and Chris Baucom.  It would be great!  Could you see possibly making a comeback?

I like the idea and I’ve always kept my options open.  I wouldn’t rule out anything for the future, but the conditions would have to be right.  My business has nearly doubled this year compared to last year so my workload is very heavy right now.  I would have to take things one step at a time and right now is not the time for the first step.  Besides, I’m enjoying being sponsored by somebody else for a change.  Sector 9 is a great sponsor and I’m honored to skate on their team.  They build special 8-ply longboards to my specifications that are intended specifically for me and are not available for sale in their regular line of boards.  I love those boards and I appreciate the special treatment I get from Sector 9.    

 Do you think that skateboarding can add quality to a kid’s life, if so, in what ways?

Absolutely!  Skateboarding provides a healthy physical workout that keeps your body tuned and your mind occupied in a positive way.  No time for wallowing in the gutter, laying in your own puke or ending your life early through some unintended drug overdose.  There are so many evil distractions out there, mainly in the form of drugs and alcohol, luring youth to potential disaster.  Kids need something positive to spend their time on and skateboarding is a perfect tool.  Effective skateboarding demands your complete attention and keeps you focused on that which is good in life.  Skateboarding also provides kids with a way to set and achieve goals, which is very important in every aspect of one’s life.  Whether it’s simply a plan to learn new tricks or something larger like a goal to win a major competition or World Title, it is the setting and achieving of these goals that sets successful people apart from the lost masses.       

You have been involved with skateboarding through every stage of its existence.  Give a brief comment or immediate thought on skateboarding for each decade:

1960’s

Raw, primitive skate equipment never gets out of the “toy” stage.  It’s all about surfing on land.  Everyone skates barefoot because grip tape is not yet invented.  Makaha Skateboards, Torger Johnson, Bruce Logan, John Freis, Davey Hilton, Soda cans as Slalom Cones, Nose Wheelies, Headstands, etc . . .     

1970’s

The introduction of urethane wheels and the birth of today’s skateboard industry.  Marine boat deck grip used on skateboards for the first time which gives way to Foot Tred, the first skateboard grip tape company.  Kicktails replace flat decks.  Bennett Trucks are number one despite broken base plates but the company can’t ship product so they’re barely available anyway.  Loose bearings give way to precision bearings.  Solid hardwood and fiberglass decks give way to maple ply construction.  The first skatepark era is born.  First use of curved plywood ramps.  First half-pipes shaped like a U with no flat bottom.  Lazer introduces the first wide truck, which allows decks to go wide.  Narrow boards disappear almost overnight and many skate shops take a financial hit because they have all narrow boards in stock that they can no longer sell.   Decks average 10” wide and peak out around 12”.  Greg Weaver, Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Henry Hester, Mike Weed, Tom Sims, Jim McCall, Wally Inouye, Stacy Peralta, Kelly Lynn, Steve Olson, Alan Gelfand, Mike Folmer, Shogo Kubo, Ray Bones, Nose Guards, Tail Skids, Frontside Air, Hand Plants, Inverts, the Ollie, Copers, Clyde Slides, Lappers, Shorts that are too short, etc . . .                    

1980’s

Recession sets in early.  Parks closed & dozed.  Skate shops bite the dust everywhere.   Most skate manufacturers out of business.  You can count all the companies that survive on just two hands.  Reagan era tax cuts create huge financial boom and skateboarding is on the rise again in a very big way.  Steve Olson, Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Shawn Peddie, Jeff Phillips, Gator Mark Anthony, Rodney Mullen, Matt Hensley, Buck Smith, Christian Hosoi, Eric Dressen, Blaize Blouin, Ollie Kickflips, Ollie Impossibles, Ollie Everything, Freestyle, Streetstyle, Launch Ramps, Lip Tricks, Vert, Kick Noses, The Nightmare, etc . . .         

1990’s

Recession sets in early once again.  Yet another skate industry shakeout.  This time it’s not as bad as a decade earlier.  More companies survive this time and skateboarding slowly and surely gets back to good health.  Sector 9 starts their longboard company.  After 20 years, Longboarding finally takes off.  Short decks go narrow again.  Freestyle boards now called Street boards.  Freestyle tricks now called Street Skating.  The term “Freestyle” vanishes entirely.  Vert gone from the scene as well but re-emerges later in the decade.  Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen continue to rule yet another era.  Mike Vallely, Salman Agah, John Cardiel, Omar Hassan, Brian Howard, Felix Arguelles, Sean Sheffey, Mike Frazier, Ed Templeton, Spitfire, Rail Slides, Busted Balls, etc . . .                    

2000’s

Tony Hawk is still the boss.  Skatepark construction explodes across the country and the world.  Higher ratio of city-owned skateparks to privately owned parks.  Freestyle skateboarding re-emerges in a dark San Francisco warehouse followed by a flurry of freestyle events worldwide.  Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley, Bob Burnquist, Arto Saari, Rune Glifberg, Remy Stratton, Bam Margera, Bucky Lasek, Technical Skating, Everything Switchfoot, CKY, etc . . .   The rest of the decade has yet to be written . .

 I’d like for you to give us a brief memory on each of these key teamriders of yours:

 Jim McCall:

McCall was the first East Coast skater to have a major pro career.  He completely dominated the first couple of years after professional skateboarding began in 1976.  He was the first Floridian to place top 5 in a California contest (Magic Mountain Masters, 1976).  He performed the first frontside air in front of a huge crowd at the West Palm Beach auditorium.  He was among the first to develop hand plants & inverts (along with Pat Love, Paul Patala and Greg Meischeid).  Jim was a major influence to a very young Rodney Mullen.  McCall always expected perfection from himself and never entered a contest without an absolute intention of winning.  His Nose Wheelie 360 Spin is aesthetically the best maneuver I’ve ever seen in my life.  Worldwide, you can count the skaters on one hand that can do this trick successfully, but none as proficient as Jim McCall.                   

Shawn Peddie:

His legend was huge.  Shawn Peddie blew minds as an unknown 16 year old riding the Kona tombstone in the late 1970’s.  Jaws dropped everywhere when he did the Walker Team Tour of California skate parks in 1978.  The Peddie Plant is the main trick skaters typically associate with Shawn, however a little known fact is that Jeff Phillips learned the Phillips 66 from Peddie.  Jeff was stoked to popularize the maneuver but he always knew that Shawn had invented it and was quick to give Peddie credit.  As for where Shawn Peddie is now, I lost track many years back.        

Chris Baucom:

Rude Boy beat them all on the vert ramp at Kona when he won the Nationals against the likes of Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, and Steve Caballero in the early eighties.  Chris, a lip trick specialist from Gainesville, brought a high level of technical skating to the development of ramp skating, on both mini ramps and vert.  His skating and his exploits as Rude Boy earned him several Walker pro model decks over the years, including the infamous, controversial and rare “dead babies” graphic.  Those who know Chris would often see a perfectly behaved gentleman turn suddenly into Rude Boy, without notice.  He was either the friendliest and best behaved or the rudest skater, depending on his circumstances and surroundings.  Chris is funny as shit and a great skater.

Rodney Mullen:

Mutt was on the Walker team for 3 years from 1977 thru 1980.  We only made one freestyle model at the time so Rodney contributed by helping Jim develop the evolutionary design changes of the McCall Freestyle deck.  As a coach, I have given lots of guidance to many skaters over the years, but it was Rodney Mullen who took me the most literally and actually followed my advice precisely.  Early on, I outlined to him exactly how to become the World Champion but the plan demanded an extreme amount of personal sacrifice and hard work to succeed.  Rodney Mullen followed the plan as though it was second nature and by the time he moved on to Powell Peralta in the Summer of 1980 he had become the best Freestyler in the world.  In 2001, I consider Rodney to be the best technical street skater in the world as Tony Hawk rules the vert domain.     

Chuck Dinkins:

Chuck moved to Florida from Tennessee and brought with him a fresh approach to street skating that caused me to immediately take notice.  He invented and created a large number of maneuvers never before seen in the street environment.  His performances were always well received and he made a big impression throughout the skateboarding world.  After doing the Walker Team for many years, Chuck wanted to start his own thing so I helped him launch Soul Trip.  For the first 1 ½ years we made decks, shirts, hats, and stickers which sold quite well and without any advertising of any kind, other than his sponsorship of six teamriders located throughout the U.S.  Unfortunately a knee injury took Chuck out of the competitive skate arena and he decided to put Soul Trip on hold and concentrate on a college education.  Dinkins continues skating for fun, but now spends most of his skate time on longboards, which he says keeps him from getting too radical and actually helps strengthen his knees.  Chuck works at the House of Blues in Orlando.              

 Any other Walker teamriders you’d like to mention:

Yes, but I can’t name them all.  I usually had about 50 teamriders around the world at any given time.  This is not a complete list:  Scott McCranels, Robbie Weir, Blaize Blouin, Buck Smith, Mark Partain, Andy Howell, Yoyo Schulz, Bill Robertson, Tim Morris, Joe Humeres, Mark Lake, Bob Umbel, Paul Schneider, Reggie Barnes, Robert Rodrigues, Donnie Myhre, Sam Myhre,  Greg Meisheid, Peter Andrews,  John Hodges, Joe Ayers, Roger Seliner, Jason Brown, Gogo Spreiter, Steve Marinak, Johnny Miller, Tommy Leggett, Lonnie Reiter, Mark Wilson, Shaun Jackson, Mike King, Carl Schultz, Chase Lustick, Fred Reeves, Ben Mullen, Greg Loehr, Tory Boettcher, Matt Wood, W.L. Sullivan, Tom Davenport, Hans Smit, Stephen Harnish, Georgio Contati, Andy Bevel, Michael Gutierrez, Robert Cortes, Steve Herring, Russ Iglay, Chad Shooter, Joe Levitz, Adam Ziolkowski, Andy Campos, Laura Elliot, Kevin Anton, Mark Nardelli, Wendy Frank, Kevin Shelton, Greg Mungall, Don Lloyd, Glenn Klugel, Jeff Klugel, Ari Gold, Pat Mulhern, Ray Showalter, Joe Duong, Mark Duong, Billy Duong, John Hughes, Randy Barfield, Bill Hubbard, Mike Speranzo, Frank Baagoe, Pat Clark, Tate Clair, Billy Lane, Jeff Walsh, Kelly Lynn, Jacky Grayson, Pat Love, Brett Martin, Bill Breithaupt, David Wasson, Ed Lay, Ken Campbell, Andy Berry, Ken Middlebrook, Pete Mihalenko, Brad Hoffman, Josh Marlowe, Phil Del Cueto, Andres Camacho,  Tony Graham, Scott Hughston, John Parton, Mark Buncy, Dave Bamdas, John Krieger, Rob Bjorklund, Jeff Parker and others . . .  This is the first time I’ve ever tried to make a list.  Any Walker teamers not listed here, please contact me through Floridaskater.com so I can update my list. 

 How did you produce your boards?  The early solid wood ones were done “in house” I assume.  When the market went to ply boards did you press them or have them done by a manufacturer, how about the silk screenings?

Our first boards were solid fiberglass, similar to Bahne skateboards.  We contracted a company to build them for us and then screened them ourselves.  We built the solid wood decks from scratch in our own facility and through the factories of Michael Grassley and Greg Mungall’s dad.  The technology of gluing the kicktails onto the solid wood boards was a bit tricky but we got it wired.  Routed wheel wells were one of the innovations we introduced to skate production early on.  Finally, ply construction came along and decks got a lot stronger we never did press our own ply decks.  We would contract that out and then finish the boards in our own facility, starting with the uncut, pressed 7-ply rectangular blank.  Our silkscreening was originally done “in house” and later through a local screen printer in Melbourne.

 Do you happen to have any of your old Walker Boards?  There are a lot of collectors out there that would love to see a bunch of your old equipment.

Originally, I didn’t think to save any of our decks.  We would always sell out of our stock before updating to newer designs.  I do however, have my very first longboard templates and tooling from the mid 70’s.  A few years later, I realized I needed to start pulling aside a sample of each design before selling them all, so now I have a pretty good collection, even though it’s missing some of the earliest models.  I only have one of each model in my collection though, so there are not any extras available for collectors.  The exception would be the Nightmare.  I have roughly (20) of them stashed, but I’m not making them available yet.  Sometime in the distant future I will consider bringing  them out of hibernation. 

 Did you notice a large jump in sales when you had catchy 80’s graphics and unique shapes like the Mark Lake “nightmare”?

Our graphics were always very well received.  The artwork came mostly from Octavio Diaz early on and usually from my brother Steven Walker later.  Remember the famous Maxell Tapes poster with the guy sitting in the chair being blown back by the sound?  For years I saw that poster and didn’t even know that my brother was the art director who created the poster and won awards for it.  Steven Walker is a quiet genius and doesn’t usually talk about himself so I found out later by accident. 

As for unique shapes, skateboards were getting boring so we figured what the hell?  The Nightmare shape was actually very functional for that era, but it was also our joke on the skateboard world.  Mark Lake and Lonnie Reiter made sure it performed well before we released it though and skaters either loved it or hated it.  We actually loved it ourselves, and enjoyed both riding it and freaking people out.  We noticed a nice spike in sales immediately after the Nightmare was released.      

 What was your biggest selling signature model of all time?

Overall, our best selling pro deck was the Jim McCall model but that included many different shapes and graphics released over a span of many years starting in 1976.  As for a single, specific design the best seller was definitely the original Mark Lake Nightmare.

What would you tell the world about Florida Skateboarders if you could possibly try to sum that large group up as a whole?

Florida skaters don’t wait for things to happen, they make them happen.  The skate media has always been centered in southern California but that’s never stopped Florida from leading the way.  Historically our terrain has never been as sweet as out West so we’ve had to make up for it with attitude and action.  Not an attitude of negativity, but rather one of confidence.  It’s true though, that we’ve had to travel and hang out in California and kiss their ass in order to make a career out of skateboarding, but as a result, our skateboarding has gotten even better.  I think we’re generally a friendly group and like riding with skaters from everywhere, but we usually have something new to show them.  We built and rode the world’s first curved plywood ramps.  We built and rode the world’s first skate park.  So many tricks have been invented by Floridians that an actual list would be quite astounding to the rest of the world.

As one of skateboarding’s all time legends, it’s a pleasure to have you in the third issue of FloridaSkater.com.  It was also a privilege to have ridden for you in the early 80’s; I wanted to thank you again for your generosity and kindness back then.  Are there any closing comments you’d like to leave us with, or anything you’d like to mention?

My first skate hero was my friend Robby Stoutner who played bass in my band and skated better than anyone when we were growing up in the sixties in Hawaii.  I placed third in my first skate contest in 1965, but of course Robby won the event.  I haven’t seen Robby Stoutner since he visited and skated with me in Pennsylvania in 1968.  Robby, where are you?    

 A big thanks goes to my wife, Stephanie for being the best, most beautiful woman on earth.  Thanks to my children, Jason and Courtney for growing up to be such great individuals.  More thanks to my older brothers, David & Phil, for crushing me when I deserved it and to my younger brothers Stanley and Steven for taking the abuse I dished out, even when they didn’t deserve it.  I will never be able to adequately thank my Mom and Dad, Betty and Aaron Walker, who have spent more than the last decade helping me with my skateboard business and for allowing me to ride skateboards for all those years growing up. 

 Thanks to my friends and to the skaters and surfers who rode for my company and were instrumental in bringing about the success that kept me in business for all these years.  It was all of you putting in your own special ingredients that helped make the sauce. 

 Much appreciation goes out to my sponsors: Sector 9, Volcom, Reef, The 187, Accel, and Legend Eyewear as well as to my surfboard shaper, Greg Loehr.   

 Finally, I’d like to thank you Steve Marinak, for creating this website where we can not only brush up on our memories of great times in our sports history, but can also find out what a lot of our friends are up to these days.  It’s been great for contacting old buddies as well as learning things we didn’t even know about what we’ve all been involved with for so long.  Keep it up because I’m looking forward to all the future interviews with the pioneers that had no previous blueprint to go by, yet still stepped up to the plate and hit the home runs that brought us to where we’re at today.