The original Z-Boys crew member Chris Cahill dies at the age of 54
The skateboarding and surfing community suffered a great loss with the death of Chris Cahill, an airbrush artist and surfboard shaper, as well as one of the 12 members of the 1970s Zephyr skateboarding team, Z-Boys, who died at the age of 54 on June 24th
in Los Angeles, USA.
While the LA county coroner, Chief Craig Harvey, stated that the actual of death is yet to be determined, other sources revealed that Cahill met his demise after losing a lengthy battle with cancer.
While Cahill did not have the perfect beginning to his life, things turned out to be pretty fine as years went by. He belonged to a broken family and while he was really close to his mother, he spent most of his early years hiding from his dad.
As he grew older, he began to hang around at the Zephyr Surf-shop located in Dogtown, a section of Venice Beach, California. The place used to be a hangout of other kids as well, most of who belonged to a broken family, which allowed Cahill to really feel
at home.
It was here that the Z-Boys crew was formed in 1974 and where the team derived its name from. Cahill represented the shop in various surfing competitions.
Aside from Cahill, the Zephyr crew consisted of Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Jim Muir, Nathan Pratt, Alan Sarlo, Wentzle Ruml, Peggy Oki, Paul Constantineau, Bob Biniak, Shogo Kubo and Stacy Peralta. The one thing that was common among all 12 members was their
passion for surfing.
Gradually, the Z-Boys crew started entering the skateboarding scene as well. In 1975, Cahill was one of the members of Zephyr skate team that represented the Zephyr Surf-shop in the Del Mar contest and earned success.
However, surfing and skateboarding were not the only talents that he possessed. It was the owner of Zephyr Surf-shop, Jeff Ho, who first noticed Cahill’s artistic talent. He took the surfer-c*m-skateboarder under his wing, giving him a job of airbrushing
surfboards in his shop, only to later help Cahill learn the art of shaping surf-boards, which became his lifelong trade.
"Chris had a great sense of putting a surfboard together. Lots of guys are technically good, but it doesn't ride good or surf good. Chris's boards may not have been exactly perfect, but he could make it ride well," said Ho. "But his contribution to this
life, his life's work, was an artist. He was a great air-brusher."
The Californian, who spent most of his adult life in Mexico, began to airbrush skateboards as well later, with crashing waves the most common theme in his art.
While Cahill was never interested in stardom, he did end up as a star with a significant contribution to the sport of surfing and skateboarding. He will always be remembered in the kindest of words.
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