by David Hatton
Photos by Gus Songg
[Editor’s note: At about 6 p.m., last Thursday, people on the beach saw Jake Piasecki, 46, swim out to sea and disappear. After a two-hour search Hermosa police and fire, lifeguards, Coast Guard and Redondo Harbor Patrol, Hermosa Police Officer Matt Rushton spotted Piasecki in shallow water at Fourth Street. Officer Rushton had been driving along the beach with his patrol car’s spotlight on the water’s edge. Resuscitation efforts by Rushton and Hermosa paramedics were unsuccessful, according to Hermosa Beach Police Sergeant Robert Higgins.]
Jacob Earl Piasecki was one skateboarding’s most influential skaters. The things he could do on a skateboard were truly magical. I grew up watching him skateboarding and I had the pleasure of touring with him for many years on skate trips. I was 10 years old when Jake told me if you want to skate the ramp you’ve got a drop in. I walked up on the platform and dropped in. It was the scariest moment of my life.
The ramp he built at his family’s home on Valley Park Avenue was ground zero for skateboarding during the late ‘80s and through the ‘90s, when skateboarding in Hermosa was crime. On any given day the the sport’s most talented skaters could be found there, people like Saba, Howard Hood, Christian Hosoi, Mike Smith, Endo, Mike McGill, Gonze, Tom Winn, George Wilson, Lester Kasai, Eric Kim, Todd Congelliere, Butch Sterbins, George Watanabe, Mark Gonzales, Pat Bareiscould, Ron Chatman and Gary Heaslet.
Jake’s ramp was a sanctuary where skaters could skate without being harassed by the cops. His first love was his daughter Isabella. His second love was skateboarding. There is not a person on this planet who loved skateboarding more than Jake. There were times when he was skateboarding that he would push so hard and be in so much pain you could hear him scream as he did a backside air and pushed to get higher and higher. There was never a time you wouldn’t see Jake holding a skateboard. He called it his ax. He was a legend in the pool community and dominated pool competitions for many years. He was an innovator, a dad an amazing guitar player, a poet and just an awesome human being.
He was always taking care of other people even though he didn’t have a lot himself. He was always saving a dog, a cat, a squirrel, a bird or opossum. Everything he did, he did from the heart.
Jake used to say to me, Four wheels and a piece of wood will set you free, so let’s go for a ride.”
To help Piasecki’s family with expenses, visit http://www.gofundme.com/2vdjn50.
A memorial service is being planned, but details have not been announced. ER
