Being Tom

October 03, 2007 @ 11:04 AM

Since sweeping all before him and ushering in a new era of skateboarding, the mantle of reclusive legend has hung heavy round the shoulders of Tom Penny.

With his effortless technique and born to do it- style, the skateboarding world couldn’t get enough of the young Brit who never sought the limelight or craved the adulation of his peers.

And therein lies the quandary at the heart of skating’s love for Tom Penny: why, with that talent and following, doesn’t he just go all out and dominate every magazine and video going- as I imagine any of us surely would? Why, instead, ease himself out of the backdoor of celebrity and search out head- peace and solitude instead?

The answer, in as much as we are qualified to say, is that its just not his way. The peripheral lifestyle to being a professional skateboarder- parties, high fives, insincere friends, never picking up the tab- was the last thing his life needed because he has no interest in skateboarding beyond the act of skating itself.

And so we thought it better to let those beautiful actions be his words rather than ask him to justify, or explain, or defend the path he has chosen. Sometimes greatness walks across our paths and we can all bask in its glow for a minute. You cannot keep a butterfly by trapping it in a glass, because its essential nature becomes broken and it suffocates. We can only hope that it alights nearby for a moment, so we may wonder about the majesty of it all.

Thanks for the time spent with us, Tom, and we’ll see you again when we’re all out skating soon.