Tony Hawk (b. 1968)
Filed under the name Anthony · October 5, 2026
Tony Hawk basically did for skateboarding what an early startup founder does for a whole industry — took something niche and unglamorous and, through sheer relentless skill and visibility, turned it into something the entire mainstream world eventually cared about. What actually gets me, though, is the Skatepark Project, which has helped build hundreds of free public skateparks in underserved communities across the country, meaning kids without a lot of resources get actual safe places to do the exact thing that changed his own life. That's a much better use of fame-money than another sneaker deal, in my opinion, though I'm sure he's got a few of those too. I bombed hard at a comedy show earlier this year and needed a while to get back up; Hawk built an entire career out of literally falling down repeatedly in public until the tricks landed. There's something to be said for people whose whole skill set is built on getting back up more than most of us ever have to.