Tony hawk: the man

Tony Hawk was born on May 12, 1968 in San Diego, California. He was the son of Frank and Nancy Hawk and youngest sibling of Lenore, Patricia and Steve Hawk. Tony’s life was changed at the age of nine when his brother gave him his first skateboard. Before skating, Tony was a small, thin kid who was very hyper and pathologically determined. He would be very hard on himself if he could not get to a goal he had set for himself and would become very upset. Tony’s parents soon found out that Tony was gifted and was described to have a twelve-year-old mind in an eight-year-old body and was put in advanced classes. His mind was telling him to do thinks that his body could not perform. This problem was solved then his brother Steve gave him his first skateboard.

After skating Tony’s mind finally got on level with his mind and he now new his limits. Skating not only changed his mindset. It changed his personality. He became calm and would think about others more than himself. Tony still was very frustrated with himself if he couldn’t live up to the goal he had set, even if he won first place in a skate contest. Some say most of this determination came from his father who drove torpedo bombers in WWII. Tony’s father became a big supporter in Tony’s life, doing whatever he could to make him happy and successful. Frank would drive Tony to all his skate contest, built him ramps to practice on and even founded his own skating associations when the stipulations were weak with other organizations. This helped skateboarding rocket back into popularity. Sadly, Tony’s father passed away in 1995.

Through the years of his youth, Tony Hawk had been sponsored by countless companies and won over 70 pro skate competitions. Tony was able to buy his own house by age seventeen. Two years later he bought yet another house. Tony felt like he was on top of the world, that is, until 1991. This was the hardest time for Tony to make a living. This was when skating died in popularity. Tony couldn’t make a decent living and Tony’s wife had to gain most of the income. He had to sell one of his houses and his car to make some money in 1992. This was when Tony had his first son Riley. Tony decided to refinance his first house and started Birdhouse skate company. Eventually Tony divorced his wife. Eventually Tony made it through and skating was on top of the charts again.

Tony remarried to Erin Lee in 1996. He bought a new house with a pool and Birdhouse was one of the biggest skating companies in the world. They had two kids together named Spencer and Keegan. Tony then divorced Erin Lee and remarried to Lhotse Merriam in 2006. Through the years, Tony started his own line of clothing, shoes and videogames along with being associated with various companies like Sirius Satellite Radio and Adio shoes. He’s been on many magazines, television shows, award shows and has been featured on cartoons like Nickelodeon’s Rocket Power and The Simpsons. Tony’s biggest accomplishments have to be in his tricks. He has created the biggest bag of tricks, with the 900 degree spin being the most famous.

Tony Hawk has become one of the biggest successes in the world today. He owns multiple successful companies and franchises, funded the construction of skateparks worldwide and has put together multiple tours like the Boom Boom Huck Jam to help spread skating popularity around the world.

Visit Tony Hawks Official Website

See Tony Hawk’s Full Biography

Tony Hawks Wikipedia Page

THE REVIEW THE TRICKS THE INFLUENCE THE BOARDS PICURES/VIDEOS

Page Created By: Brandon Eckert Back to Topic Index Back to Memorial Homepage