When you talk about big names in the fledgling sport of vert skateboarding, there is none bigger than the “Birdman”. Known, loved, and imitated from the West Coast to the East, Tony Hawk has done more to bring professional skateboarding into the limelight than nearly any other skater.

In many ways, Tony is a sad and tragic figure, having endured the ebbing tides and flows of fortune with the rising and falling popularity of his sport. Totally devoted to vert skating and encouraging a positive environment for youngsters do it in, the Birdman has been a pivotal influence in both the state-of-the-art in technique and a leader in the movement to provide skate parks for everybody.

His popular video series, Tony Hawk’s Secret Skate Park Tour, was not only an original idea for a DVD, but a force for change in the safety and quality of skate parks in various urban areas. Arriving unannounced, the crowd would be as surprised as anyone would be to witness Tony Hawk’s elite team of skateboard gods descend upon often humble skating venues. The review would include an assessment of features, including location, ramp types and safety factors like lighting and arrangement of facilities to allow multiple users without collision.

The Skate Park Tour video was the first of its kind when it was released in 2004, giving skateboard pros a chance to do their thing in their natural habitat…the skate parks that ordinary locals counted on for practicing their way to the top. Neither a promo nor a competition, these relaxed clips can be some of the most enjoyable footage in the world of skateboard video.

Tony is a child of the Southern California wave of riding. Born in Carlsbad, California during the Summer of Love, to a college professor and a small appliance salesman who was also a Navy veteran, the Birdman was always the coolest kid in class, although his autobiography, Occupation: Skateboarder describes him as a moody, frustrated adolescent.

Hand-picked by Stacey Peralta to be an original member of the Bones Brigade in 1979, the Birdman has invented over 80 aerial skateboard tricks including the Madonna, the McHawk, the Stalefish. He is the first known skater to land a 900 degree rotation in the air on a half pipe.

As a member of the Bones Brigade, Tony Hawk has shared concrete with just about every major innovator in the field of vert and street skateboard tricks, skating with Mike McGill, inventor of the McTwist. The Birdman was the second to successfully land the McTwist.

The Birdman’s youngest son, Keegan, who began his skating career at the age of three, is proving to be on his father’s path to skating stardom, already earning wows and awards from the crowd which his father draws.

Tony’s first two marriages could not survive the ravages of the sport, but he is today happily married to Lhotse Merriam, and each of his three sons skateboard, he announced in February of 2008 that he and his wife are expecting their first child together, this kid will probably be skating before he even learns how to walk.