Shogo Kubo -- the skateboarding legend whose legendary crew was immortalized in the movie "Dogtown and Z-Boys" -- died while paddle boarding by himself in Hawaii on Tuesday ... TMZ Sports has learned. Honolulu PD tells TMZ Sports ... witnesses noticed the 54-year-old was having problems in the water and several people swam out to bring him into shore. Emergency personnel tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead on the beach. An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of death, but for now police are saying there is nothing suspicious about it. Jim Muir, founder of Dogtown Skateboard and a long time friend of Kubo's, tells TMZ Sports, "He was a friend and a brother and he passed away doing what he loved." Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/25/shogo-kubo-dead-skateboarder-dogtown-and-z-boys/#ixzz35mWMsgWM
I remember shogo from when I had a subscription to Skateboarder mag back in the mid 70s. He was definitely the man holding down Skatopia skatepark's halfpipe...although, back them, halfpipes had no flat bottom and even shogo was only doing "one wheelers", "tail blocks" and maybe the odd "bert slide". Looked great doing it, though, in his "Sims" team shirt and stuff. RIP
He never got the same attention as Tony or Jay but I remember how rad the pictures were of Shogo doing layback grinds and frontside airs in a pool. Sorry to hear of his passing.
Saw him skate at the Cherry Hill skatepark back in 1979. Blasting big frontside airs out of the big pool there. For those of you who never saw that park, it was awesome, and the big pool was probably 12' deep and perfect. I'll never forget - blue high top Nike Bruins, Jay Flyaway helmet - classic, just like I'd seen in Skateboarder Magazine... RIP Shogo, thanks for the memories.
I usually avoid the RIP threads for personal reasons, but gotta throw an RIP out there for Shogo. I grew up w/ Hawk and the Bones Brigade, and while at the time I knew they had predecessors, I didn't really do the research till later in life. But this whole surf/skate thing helped me through some odd times, and on the skate end of things, we owe it all to these guys. And not to be cliche, but at least he went out doing something he loved. RIP Shogo.
Dang, one of our heroes has passed on. Sorry to hear that. Wanted to ride like him, fast and low. Glad to hear he went out on top of a board. Checking out on a magic carpet of sorts. Hope I can be so lucky.
