News of Andy Kessler's death is all over the web today. The East Coast/NYC skate legend died yesterday, apparently from allergic reaction to a hornet sting, of all things, after a life of hard skating and hard living. He died in Montauk, not far from the skatepark he helped design and get built there.

Kessler was one of the original Zoo Yorkers, and today the Zoo York blog reports "Our friend and NYC skateboarding legend Andy Kessler passed away yesterday, he was part of the original Soul Artists of Zoo York in the 1970’s and has probably been skating longer than anyone else in the city.  Our thoughts go out to his family and friends; the city won’t be
the same without you."
This 2005 NY Mag article has more on Kessler and his role in early NYC skate history.

I can't claim the honor of having known Kessler well, but I did skate with him once at Owl's Head Skatepark in Brooklyn, and he's long been one of my skate heroes and favorite artists. RIP, Andy.

Here's a quick clip from Deathbowl to Downtown:



And here's a 2007 documentary on some of his highs and lows, Grandmaster of 108:


Photo above via EpiclyLaterd.com, where they have a nice photo tribute up today.