Skateboarding
He was born in Santa Monica, California. As a teenager in the mid-1970s, he was a member of the original Zephyr skateboard team and of the Zephyr surf team along with Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. According to fellow Zephyr skateboard team member and Powell-Peralta Bones Brigade founder Stacy Peralta Adams "is probably not the greatest skater of all time, but I can say without fear of being wrong that he is clearly the archetype of modern-day skateboarding.[1] The Godfather of modern day skateboarding, Craig Stecyk, dubbed Adams "the original 'seed.'"[2] Stecyk also wrote, "Having known Adams over the years I really can't say he's changed much. He remains one of the most spontaneous, unpredictable persons I've ever encountered... Everything you've ever heard about him is probably true, or should be anyway. Mere words could never come close to accurately describing him."[3].
He currently rides for Z-Flex skateboards and has had many guest boards throughout the years for many different companies, including companies such as Rayner's Skates.
[edit]In Popular Culture
Adams is featured prominently in the award winning documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys and in the dramatized film account of the Z-Boys origins, Lords of Dogtown in which he made a cameo as a party guest.
The character Iggy Van Zandt from Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is based on Jay Adams.
[edit]Legal problems
In 1982, Adams was involved in the beating death of the gay man Timothy Withers. He was convicted of assault in that case and sentenced to six months in prison. [4]. He was also in and out of prisons through the next two decades as he struggled with drug addiction. [4]
He served two and a half years of a four year sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon, after being caught on a wiretap acting as a go-between for a buyer and seller of crystal methamphetamine. He was released to a halfway house on July 8, 2008 for the remainder of his sentence.[4]
[edit]Personal life
He is married to Sonya Gharsallah, with whom he has a daughter, Venice. He also has a son, Seven, from a prior relationship. [4]
[edit]Further reading
DOGTOWN-The Legend of the Z-Boys, C.R. Stecyk III & Glen E. Friedman, Burning Flags Press, 2000, ISBN 0-9641916-4-4
JAY-BOY - Classic photographs by Jay Adams stepfather, Kent Sherwood, Concrete Wave Editions, 2006, ISBN 0973528664 *[1]
Scarred for Life - Eleven Stories About Skateboarders by Keith Hamm, Chronicle Books, 2004, ISBN 0811840530
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