"...But Legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you'll never go wrong." I was driving away from The Berrics after shooting with Guy Mariano for the first time in my life, and that line from The Sandlot kept echoing through my head, and it was one of those interesting experiences because I knew how big of a deal he was in the skate community, and I'd seen his part in Lakai's Fully Flared (embedded below. It's epic, trust me), but I didn't know the whole story behind how truly awesome it is to have him skating the streets of Los Angeles again–a story about someone whose heart led him back to the sport that he loved.
Guy Mariano basically took a hiatus from skateboarding to inadvertently pursue a career of self-destructive partying. As addiction took hold, his break from skating turned into a slump, and eventually he just faded from the scene completely. After finally deciding that he had hit rock-bottom, Guy sought help at Impact Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center, and after sobering up jumped straightaway onto his skateboard again. He's not a young buck anymore. He's been a professional skateboarder for almost twenty years, and to have him not film a video part for over eight years, taking a 5-year break from a skateboard, and coming out of retirement to have a part like he did in Fully Flared is just unreal. Guy is a man dedicated to giving back to the sport that gave him back his life. After treatment, it was only on his skateboard that he could kick all the demons of negativity that consistently get at you. When he was on his skateboard he wasn't worried if he was going to relapse or if he would be able to pay his bills or whatever, and he was happy for that moment, and that was the strength he needed to push through his addictions. I feel privileged to have been able to do photo and video work with someone to whom I will look up for a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment