The following was written by Corey Kilgannon for The New York Times and originally published on February 25, 2006. Excerpts from Corey’s story are featured here, with the full story available at nytimes.com.
[...]Harold Hunter (April 2, 1974 – February 17, 2006) was already well known in skateboarding circles when he was a teenager and began gaining mainstream fame after landing film roles, including one in “Kids,” the 1995 movie portraying a decadent teenage subculture.
By his early teens, he was touring with Zoo York, the prominent New York skateboarding team, and appearing widely in skateboard magazines and videos, showing his mastery of moves, from basic skills like the ollie, to high-flying backside heel flips.
From benches to stoops to staircases and building facades to handrails, the cityscape of Lower Manhattan became Mr. Hunter’s skatepark. He was a fixture in Washington Square, Union Square and Astor Place and at skate spots like the Brooklyn Banks, the concrete slopes under the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan.
Harold Atkins Hunter’s mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by family members in the Campos Plaza housing project on East 13th Street.
Mr. Hunter grew up on the same block as the actress Rosario Dawson. When she was 15, he helped persuade the director of “Kids,” Larry Clark, to cast her in the movie.
“Harold’s skateboard was just a vehicle,” she said, adding: “He became famous for his personality and his spirit. If anybody came to New York, he would take them in and show them the city.”
“I saw some skate kids when I was in Brazil,” she said. “When they heard I was from New York, they said: ‘New York? Do you know Harold?’”
As a teenager, he earned a reputation as the king of New York’s skateboarding scene, but his skating skill was perhaps surpassed only by his charm and his fondness for parties. His fame expanded beyond skateboard circles to night life and music scenes and celebrity and underground culture.
Ray Mendez, a skateboard professional and a filmmaker, said: “He was a human magnet. One minute, he’d be hanging out with a celebrity, the next minute, he’d be with a wino.”
With an endearing bravado, Mr. Hunter referred to himself as a legend and ranted constantly about one day “getting famous” and bedding supermodels.
“He was the ambassador to downtown Manhattan,” Mr. [Billy] Rohan said. He said Mr. Hunter had helped galvanize New York’s skateboarding movement by recruiting black and Hispanic children and by introducing them to the young suburbanites who had abandoned privileged lives to skate the streets of New York.
“The skateboard world was his family, and anywhere he went he was a walking party,” Mr. Rohan said.
“His skateboarding was a metaphor,” Mr. Mendez said. “Harold was always rolling, always moving and transitioning between people and places and situations. He was born with all kinds of obstacles, and he ollied over them all.”[...]
R.I.P. Harold – Legends Never Die!
