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Kelly Lynn Profile "Florida's first Kelly"
Before Floridian Kelly Slater ruled the surfing world, appeared on Baywatch, and "dated" Pamela Anderson, there was another Kelly who dominated Florida. His name is Kelly Lynn and he rode a skateboard...better than most. I remember his winning achievements very well, possibly because I am the same age and frankly, was envious. Here he was... only 13 years old and winning every major vertical, bowl, freestyle, and slalom contest in Florida. (Most of the Pros were 16 - 20 years old.) Think about whatever sport you played at 13 years old, (this is seventh grade folks), and he was consistently beating college age kids. By the ripe old age of 14 he even had a Pro Signature Model from Markel Skateboards. Can you imagine being able to strut down the 8th grade hallway at school with your own Signature Model skate?! Have full spreads and stories done on you in national skateboard magazines!? What power! What influence! All at 13 - 14 years old! Then, around 1980, when skating went underground, the world lost track of Kelly Lynn, he seemingly disappeared from the Florida skate scene. This month we bring you up to date on where the world left off. We are delighted to be able to bring you a true glimpse of Florida skateboard history in our Kelly Lynn Profile. Kelly Lynn was my first hero skateboarder -Mike McGill (Click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge the photos and scans.)
Email from Charlie Gonzalez (Skateboard City Pro and fellow team mate):
How about I start from the beginning, Way back
when, there was Westwind Surf Shop. My friend Rick Burhans began
talking to me to get a skate boarding team together around 1976 or 77.
So immediately Kelly was on top of the list also with Clyde Rogers, David
"Turkey" Rodrigue and myself. We also skated together for Brewer
and Santa Cruz among others. The thing about Kelly was that he could do
every event in skateboarding and either win or place in the top 3. I
could see his talent at a very young age of 12 or possibly younger. I
remember his parents dropping him off at Skateboard City in Port Orange,
Florida, and watching him I knew he would be an emerging skate star.
We lost touch with each other after I retired in 1981. I went to a biker
party in the spring of 1993 in Ormond Beach and met with Kelly again
and talked skate shit of the old days. Found out he works as a graphic
artist for a good friend of mine, small world. Although I don't see
Kelly as much as I'd like to we still have a special bond because of our
skating days. What great memories, I certainly miss all of the people we
skated with. I wouldn't trade those days for anything. Maybe
someday we can get a Florida Old School Skate Party together. I'm sure
they would come out of the woodwork!
Later,
Charley Gonzalez
"Kelly Lynn: A skater ahead of his time, smooth and stylish. Didn't say much, his skating spoke loud." Mark Lake
Stevo,
It was years ago,
probably mid 70's that my whole family pulls up to the Daytona skatepark
(Skateboard City) and there was a big contest (State Championships). There was this little kid
cruising on the top lip of the bowl doing this trick called a "christie"
and I'll never forget that was my first impression of Kelly, and back then it
seemed like an insane trick.
You can't mention Kelly
Lynn without Clyde Rodgers, because these guys were like the dynamic duo.
Kelly was small and stylish while Clyde was big and powerful. They both
cruised around the contest circuit cleaning up on the trophies and prize
money. One of the main things that was so great is both of them had squeaky
clean reputations and were still ripping all the contests and parks like Tomoka
Moonforest, Kona, etc. ----
Scott "RED" McCranels
"I would watch Kelly with amazement when he was out there on his skateboard jumping, twisting and turning in the air. He seemed to just have the natural skill for it. He was calm and collected before a competition while I was a nervous wreck! Looking back, I think skateboarding was good for Kelly. It helped him to develop self confidence in other areas as he grew older. I was so proud of him - and I still am! " Joan Lynn (Mom)
"Kelly
had a passion for skateboarding like no other kid. He was a leader and
"KELLY LYNN WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST EAST COAST PROS IF HE HAD ACCEPTED THE FIRST PLACE CHECK WHEN HE WON THE BOYS DIVISION IN FREESTYLE & BOWLRIDING AT THE VERY FIRST EAST COAST PRO EVENT, THE 1976 FLORIDA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN PORT ORANGE. INSTEAD, HE REFUSED THE MONEY IN ORDER TO RETAIN HIS AMATEUR STATUS. IT WASN'T LONG HOWEVER, BEFORE HE FINALLY TURNED PRO AND ENDED UP COMPLETELY DOMINATING PRO VERT, POOL & BOWLRIDING EVENTS IN FLORIDA AGAINST ANY AND ALL COMPETITORS. THERE WAS SIMPLY NO SKATER IN THE WORLD WHO HAD REACHED KELLY'S LEVEL IN VERT AND BOWL TERRAIN. KELLY LYNN WAS THE STANDARD BY WHICH ALL OTHERS WERE COMPARED AND EVERYONE KNEW IT. HE EVEN CROSSED CULTURAL BORDERS BY CONTINUING TO ENTER FREESTYLE & RACING EVENTS AS WELL. KELLY WAS ONE OF THE BEST ALL AROUND SKATERS EVER AS HE CONSISTENTLY SKATED ANY AND ALL TERRAIN AND ENTERED ANY & EVERY CONTEST, AS LONG AS IT INVOLVED SKATEBOARDING. I FEEL PRETTY HONORED TO HAVE KNOWN & SKATED WITH KELLY IN THE EARLY DAYS AND I'M STOKED THAT HE KEPT ON SKATING EVEN AFTER EVENTUALLY DROPPING OUT OF THE CONTEST & DEMO SCENE. KELLY LYNN STILL RIPS TODAY AND THEREBY REMAINS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE FOR THE YOUTH OF TODAY. " BRUCE WALKER
Quote from the other half of the "Dynamic Duo", Clyde Rodgers, now living in Hawaii: Kelly was a pioneer of all kinds of tricks both in freestyle and vert skating, most noteworthy was the layback invert. He invented it and had it wired. He must be an artist of some kind by now!! Aloha, Clyde Rodgers
Phil Chiocchio - Builder/Owner of Sensation Basin: I remember Kelly Lynn had that great attitude. This was 22 years ago at Sensation Basin in Gainesville. He had a sense of adventure in a quiet sort of way and he would pull off these wonderful, graceful moves that appeared so effortless. I always looked forward to our competitions when the Daytona gang would show up. The Markel Team, Clyde Rogers, Kelly, and now I'm getting foggy, a senior moment I guess. He inspired others to do their best and was a real gentleman on top of it all.
"DUDE! A TOTALLY RAD SKATER! A BIG INFLUENCE FOR ME WITH THE ORIGINAL LAPPER (THE CLYDE SLIDE) I STARTED USING LAPPERS AFTER THAT. A SUPER SMOOTH SKATER, AFTER SKATING WITH KELLY I'D ALWAYS TRY AND POLISH MY OWN STYLE, CAUSE HIS WAS SO CLEAN." --- MIKE FOLMER
"Florida has produced a batch of top rated skaters over the years and Kelly and his traveling mate, Clyde Rodgers, were part of the group. They both acted very professional at all times and surely did help make sk8boarding a legitimate sport". --- Dave McIntyre (G&S Team Manager)
Kelly Lynn Interview September 2001 I
was 10 years old and started skateboarding shortly after I started surfing.
Most of my friends at the time who were fooling around with surfing were also
skating. I guess my older brother was the one to get me into it at first.
We would go cruise on the local tennis courts when nobody was using them. What
was your first skateboard like? I think I actually got creative and took one of my brother's roller skates cut it in half with a hack saw and made my first board by nailing it to the bottom of a piece of plywood. My father owned a marina when I was a kid and they had a huge covered storage building that they stacked boats in for dry storage and I used to make skateboards when he wasn't looking and use the tools, swipe resin off the shelf and make custom boards in there. I would cruise around and dodge the forklift and ride around inside the building. Was
the Florida State Championships your first contest?
Tell us about it and some of the notable skaters there. That
was the first big contest that I was in. There were several smaller contests
that Skateboard City held before this, but that was the first with a good amount
of people in it. This was the beginning of the scene for me and I got to
meet Bruce Walker and Jim McCall, they were two of the bigger names from down
South. There were a lot of my team mates and friends that I skated the
park with on a regular basis like Charlie Gonzalez, Bobby Mandarino, Clyde
Rodgers, Ben Duffett, Turkey, Dave Narducci, Jay Smith, John Wade, Jeff Croyle,
Tim Nolan, Frank & Joe Kilman and my brother Fred . That contest is
really what started it for me and got me motivated. Most
of these guys were older than you right? Pretty
much everybody was at least two or three years older than me. I had a few
friends my age that I skated with. There was a couple people, Danny Martin
is one guy that I remember, we were always battling it out with each other. Your
contest record at that time was probably the best all around of anyone from
'76-'79 in Florida. How did you
continually win contests? Was it
your repertoire, strategy, etc? Tell
us how you would plan for a contest. Yeah
there was a few things, I've had a couple people ask me that. At the time
it just seemed like common sense. Being younger was kind of an advantage
because I didn't have as many distractions as everybody else did. Pretty
much my whole life was skateboarding, school wasn't a major concern at the time,
I wasn't going out partying before contests or anything like that. I just
lived and breathed skateboarding, I would start mentally preparing for contests
weeks in advance, practice my runs over and over again and go to sleep early and
just practice and ride everyday. How
did you get around from park to park, and contest to contest without being old
enough to drive? There
were one or two contests where my folks drove. The majority of my trips
and travels were with my teammates, Clyde Rodgers and Seadog. I basically
depended and planned trips around finding one of my skate buddies to drive me. What
teams did you ride for? Give us the order and approximate year? The
first few teams were local surf shops, Nichols Surf Shop was the first team I
was on around '76. After that was West Wind Surf Shop and Sidewalk
Surfshop. The first real sponsored team I was on was Santa Cruz/Road
Rider, then Santana. Then we got together with Mark Lewis from Daytona, he
started Markel. It was me, Clyde, and Seadog that were the main riders.
That was probably early '79 or late '78. At that time I was traveling and
hitting as many contests as I could. After that I rode briefly for
Gullwing, and then G&S/ACS Trucks for about a year, that was my last sponsor
that ended in '80. Where
did the name Markel come from? Was it something to do with your name? A
lot of people thought it was for Mark and Kelly combined. The fact is Mark
Lewis' wife's name was Elizabeth, and it was a combination of Mark and
Elizabeth. Do
you think you would have gotten more magazine coverage if you had ridden for one
of the bigger California names. That's
possible. I think back then it was not necessarily who you were riding for
but maybe, being at the right place at the right time. I think getting to
California and getting out of State as much as possible really helped your
coverage a lot and to further your career as well as winning contest. The
magazines always showed your vertical riding abilities, but you were also good
at freestyle and slalom as well right? I
got started on flat ground doing Freestyle first then bowl riding and vert kinda
took over. I guess I was an okay Freestyler and a so so Slalom rider but
vertical is what really got my adrenaline pumping. I used to taunt Tim Scroggs
by yelling ”Tricks are for Kids” but it was all in good fun, I’ve got a
lot of respect for freestylers. Back then it seemed like most skaters didn't
just enter one event, they entered everything, freestyle, cross country, bowl
riding, slalom, whatever there was. It was a lot more diverse back then.
And I think it's slowly getting back to that now, a lot of different styles, a
lot of different ages too. The
personal home video you sent me is excellent.
Anyone who skated back in those times should own a copy.
Would you like to let our readers in on it? It's such a great
flashback including a lot of the "who's who" of early skating. Sure,
I'd be willing to pass it along to anyone who's interested. It's hard for
me to gauge it seeing it so many times. It triggers a lot more memories
for me than really just what's on the tape. The video comes from a shoebox full
of old 8mm movies I had converted onto a VHS tape. It runs about 35 minutes long
and has a little bit of everything on it. (If
interesting in purchasing a copy of the video go to www.kellylynn.com
and send Kelly an email.) Were
you good at all other sports earlier than most kids as well, or was it mostly
skateboarding? Once
I started skating it really consumed my life. The only other sport I at
the time I was really into was surfing. I think the two were totally
different but they helped each other. I think surfing really helps your
style. Were
you the star of your Jr. High? Did
the guys hate you and the girls love you? (Laughs!!)
I never experienced any hate! (More laughs!) I had really great
friends in Jr. High they all new about my skating but didn’t treat me any
different because of it. Unfortunately I didn’t get to hang out with them a
lot on weekends because I was usually skating at a park or in a contest
somewhere. Did
you invent the Layback Invert? (Layback
Air) As
far as I know yes. I didn't see or hear of anybody doing it for months
after I did the first one. Tim Scroggs wrote my Who’s Hot article and
gave me full credit for it, that was very cool. It kind of evolved in stages, I
started out doing these frontside axle stalls where I would grab my toe edge
rail with my front hand and eventually started doing a little hop and landing on
my back axle or into a tail pivot. The next step seemed obvious to me,
plant my back hand and pop it up and land it inside in one fluid motion.
The first one I did was maybe 6 inches out, that was in the pool at Sensation
Basin. I
noticed the Hester Series Skate City t shirt in the one pic. Did you skate in
that contest? And could you tell us
your California experience. Yes
I did, that was on my second trip to Cal and I think that was actually my last
contest It was kind of one of those
things that started out as a dream come true and ended badly for me. I had just
started riding for G&S and when we first arrived Dave McIntyre took myself
and Clyde Rodgers to the G&S factory and basically let us grab whatever we
wanted, it was pretty exciting. We
spent a week in the San Diego area practicing with guys from the G&S team
and then went up to Whittier for the Hester Contest. I had switched from riding
Gullwings to ACS trucks in a last minute decision that I definitely regret.
I got to the contest and saw that the pool had this huge 3 inch coping on it.
At the time ACS didn't make copers for their trucks, I got stuck doing my run
without copers and everybody else had them, it was almost a necessity, I hung up
doing a frontside roll in at the end of my first run, did a swan dive into
my head, down 12 feet near the drain. I think it hurt me more than anybody
noticed because I was able to get up and walk away out of the pool, but it put a
pretty decent sized knot on my head and I probably should have been taken to the
hospital but I kind of played it off as though I was okay. It hurt me bad enough
that I couldn't take my 2nd run which kept me from placing in the contest.
That was kind of a bummer. Well
they don't sell ACS trucks anymore! (with a laugh!) Yeah,
maybe that was part of the reason! (laughing!) After
Markel you went to G&S where did you disappear to?
This must have been around 1980 when Skateboarder Magazine folded into
Action Now, the skate market seemed to plumet, and parks were disappearing,
contests around Florida were so underground that it was hard to know when there
was one, it was all word of mouth, no internet, no web site, no magazines.
And no Kelly Lynn. Where
were you? After
that second California trip when I came back to Florida all my skate friends
were getting more into surfing and a lot of them went on to surf pro. No
body was driving to (skate) contests so I was kind of stuck. Looking back
that was a major turning point for me. But
I really consider it an honor to have been around in the period of
skating prior to that. Everything everybody was doing was for the first time.
It was really original, innovative and had a lot of soul. Bring
us up to date on what you have been doing since 1980. One
of my friends parents had some land and we built this big ramp out in the woods.
We skated that for a few years and as far as I know it has never been torn down
and the woods just kind of consumed it. I continued to skate but it really
went underground for many years. I
got into customizing VW’s for awhile. I had several different bugs and sand
rails that I took to VW shows around Florida.
I started surfing a lot more than I was skating, never got into
competing, didn't like the stress of it, just liked surfing and having a good
time with my buddies. I airbushed surfboards for several years as a
sideline. I went to college for
Commercial and advertising art and my first job as an artist I started working
on a Macintosh and learned a lot. Had a couple different artist and graphic art
jobs and kind of stumbled across the job that I've had now for over 12 years.
That turned into an art directors position at a screen printing company in
Daytona. I’m a computer junky now I guess. I
want to thank you again for making the FloridaSkater.com logos and buttons for
the web site, they really make it look professional. Sure
thing... this site is a very worthy cause. I think it’s going to do a lot for
the oldschool scene in Florida. How
is your local skatepark up there? Have
you run into any other old school skaters there? Stone
Edge is the only park worth mentioning in my immediate area. I’m amazed and
grateful that it’s still open but the ramps have been in need of some major
repairs for a long time now. The St. Augustine park about an hour to the north
is one of the best I’ve ever ridden. It’s really gotten myself and a lot of
other people excited about skating again. It’s attracting a really cool
mixture of old and new school skaters.
What
other activities other than skateboarding do you still do? I.e. snowboarding,
surfing, etc. I
still surf now and then but I’ve really been turned on about Snowboarding the
last few years. I started around
’91 and was instantly addicted. I’ve gone on several trips every year since
and love it. Riding powder is one of the funnest things I’ve ever done,
there’s no way you could possibly describe it to someone. Can
you give us a message for any of the young kids out there reading this? I
hope the younger kids check out this site and get to know the history of the
sport better. I would say just enjoy the sport and do your own thing.
Skateboarding for me is a form of expression and an outlet for my aggression. It
is the innovators who truly stand out and help the sport progress. If you can be
original and consistent you'll go far. Any
closing comments? Yeah...
Thanks to my parents for being so supportive when I was young. Thanks to Clyde
Rodgers for pushing me like he did and not only showing me how to ride a pool
but how to attack it. Thanks to Bruce Walker for helping me out with boards and
equipment for years and years after I stopped competing. Most recently thanks to
Pat & Shane at Fuel and Vinton at 187 Pads for helping me get set up with
some new equipment. I’m
searching for one of my old Markel Pool Ply models If anyone has any old Markel
boards or Clyde Slides they would be willing to part with please contact me so
we can make a deal. If you would like a copy of my Flashback skate movie or
perhaps you have some cool old footage of your own you would like to trade
please contact me at KL@cfl.rr.com and checkout my website at KellyLynn.com
(Partial) CONTEST RECORD '76 - '79 1st Annual State Championships at Skateboard City July 10-11, 1976 Amateur Division - West Wind Surf Shop Team 1st Place - Jr. Boys Freestyle 1st Place - Overall Freestyle State Champion 1st Annual Suncoast Skateboard Championships in St. Petersburg August 13-14, 1976 Amateur Division - West Wind Surf Shop Team 1st Place - Jr. Boys Freestyle 2nd Place - Jr. Boys Slalom 3rd Place - Overall Freestyle 1st Annual Central Florida Championships at Skateboard City March 13-14, 1976 Amateur Division - West Wind Surf Shop Team 1st Place - Junior Boys Freestyle 1st Place - Junior Boys Slalom 2nd Annual State Championships at Skateboard City July 2-4, 1977 Amateur Division - Skateboard City Team 1st Place - Boys Bowl Riding 4th Place - Boys Freestyle 1st Place - Overall Bowl Riding State Champion Moonforest Contest in Ormond Beach - 1978 Amateur Division - Santa Cruz Team 1st Place - Junior Freestyle 1st Place - Junior Bank Riding 1st Annual Fun & Sun Festival Clearwater Pro-Am March 11-12, 1978 Amateur Division - Santa Cruz Team 1st Place - Giant Slalom 2nd Place - Cross Country 2nd Place - Freestyle 3rd Place - Overall Team (Santa Cruz) Sensation Basin Southern Team Challenge July 1978 Amateur Division - Santa Cruz Team 1st Place - Bowl Riding 13-under 1st Place - Overall Team (Santa Cruz) KONA Jacksonville Contest 1978 Amateur Division 1st Place - Bowl Riding 2nd Place - Freestyle Concrete Connection Contest in North Carolina 1978 Amateur Division - Markel Team 1st Place - Bowl Riding 13-15 1st Place - Ramp 13-15 1st Place - Bank/Freestyle 13-15 2nd Place - Flat/Freestyle 13-15 2nd Place - Cross Country 13-15 1st Place - Overall Champion 13-15 Flyin Wheels Invitational Contest in Gadsden, Alabama October 21-22, 1978 Amateur Division - Markel Team 1st Place - Pool 13-15 1st Place - Halfpipe 13-15 WRAPS Sensation Basin Contest December 29, 1978 Pro Division - Markel Team 1st Place - Pro Bowl Riding Tampa Rainbow Wave Pro-Am 1979 Pro Division - Markel Team 1st Place - Bowl Riding 1st Place - Halfpipe 2nd Place - Cross Country 1st Annual Clearwater Eastern Pro-Open 1979 Pro Division - Markel Team 1st Place - Pro Bowl/Halfpipe Sensation Basin Contest 1979 Pro Division - Markel Team 2nd Place - Pro Bowl Riding 2nd Annual Fun & Sun Festival Clearwater Pro-Am 1979 Pro Division 1st Place - Pro Bowl/Halfpipe
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