Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Redwood City, California | December 28, 1973
Died | August 22, 1998 Arcata, California | (aged 24)
Sport | |
Country | U.S. |
Phil Shao (December 28, 1973 - August 23, 1998) was a goofy-footed professional skateboarder and journalist from Redwood City, California. [1] [2] [3] [4] Before his death, Shao was to be the next editor-in-chief of Thrasher magazine. [5] [6]
Shao was featured in many skate magazines including Thrasher Magazine, Big Brother Skateboard Magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, TransWorld Skateboarding. [7] [8] Shao graced the July 1996 cover of Thrasher magazine with a smith grind on the top rail at Fort Miley. [9] [10] Shao was known as a master of many different styles of skating including street and vert. [11] Jake Phelps refers to Shao as " Hosoi and the Gonz in one dude." [12]
Shao appeared in many skateboarding videos in his career, traveling the world to skateboard. [13] [4] His last video was "Dedications" from Think Skateboards, released shortly before his death. [14] [15]
In addition to skating, Shao worked at Thrasher magazine as a copy editor. [14] Shortly before his untimely death, Phil was informed he was to be named Editor of Thrasher Magazine. [1] [2] After Shao's passing, Jake Phelps stayed on as Editor-in-chief. [17]
On August 22, 1998, Phil Shao died in a car accident in Arcata, California. [14]
In the summer of 2003, Redwood City collaborated with Phil's friends and family to build a skatepark dedicated to Phil called the Phil Shao Memorial Skate Park. The park is a 13,000 square foot skatepark with 5 bowls, rails, and ledges. [18]
Shao had an English degree from the University of California at Berkeley. [19] [2]