Meet the Librarian Resurrecting the Lost Women of Skateboarding
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
-
Venice, Los Angeles
13 min read
Venice Beach is central to Liz Bevington's story and the broader skateboarding culture discussed. Understanding its history as a bohemian enclave, its boardwalk culture, and its role as a birthplace of modern skateboarding provides essential context for why this location attracted eccentric characters like Bevington.
Canadian champion Pam Judge rocking a cast from a skiing accident while skating at the Oasis Skatepark, documented by Arne Ratermanis in May 1979 (iStock / Ana Luisa O. J.)
This story was originally published on thewalrus.ca
It was not the post about an X Games vert champion or someone catapulting themselves down multiple sets of stairs on a skateboard that received immediate support from followers on my Instagram account. The post featured Liz Bevington (RIP)—a German-born, Venice Beach misfit who learned to skateboard at age fifty-two in 1976. She wasn’t content to sit around and watch her son have all the fun, and when Bevington was eventually widowed, skateboarding became her core social outlet.
The history of women in skateboarding is the focus of my account, and the popular post included photos of Bevington rocking her pink high-top shoes, wearing a tasseled “Skateboard Mama” beach T-shirt, and riding her custom skateboard with a windsurfer sail all the way into her eighties. The post also contained retro footage of her in vibrant spandex grooving to a disco beat on her skateboard, weaving through a street party, surrounded by lithe young men on roller skates. She looks like she’s having a blast, completely in the zone. Over forty-five years later, the online response to Bevington’s lifestyle was pure stoke.
“Oh my goodness she is GOALS! 😍”
“What an inspiration 😍 😍 😍”
“I love her so much!!! 🔥 🔥 🔥”
“This is my favorite skater on this account so far.”
“Legend 🙌”
“Wow she was so awesome. 🙌 You dig up the best stories!”
“Thanks for sharing and creating this page 👏 . . . RIP Liz aka Skateboard Mama love you and will never forget you.”
Bevington experienced being in the limelight to some extent during her heyday, making a cameo in a Coors Light commercial in 1984 and then a Pepsi ad in 1990, even receiving sponsorship from the clothing brand B.U.M. Equipment. The Los Angeles Times presented her in an article when she protested a proposed ban on roller sports in Venice Beach, followed by a photo shoot of Bevington skateboarding the Santa Monica pier.
Liz Bevington protesting a potential ban on roller sports in Venice Beach, in the LA Herald Examiner, May 31, 1989 (Michael Haering)
As for historical accounts of Bevington in skateboarding media, there’s a tiny photo of her in the
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.