Photographer Glen E. Friedman remembers Bob "The Bullet" Biniak, a hero in the early days of skate culture who was a member of the original "Z-Boys" team. Biniak suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Sunday, and passed away Thursday at 12:51pm EST in Florida. From Glen's blog post:
Back in DogTown's heyday Biniak was known as one of the toughest, hardest skating dudes out there. Few could match his skills skating the infamous pipes out in Arizona or on the vertical flat wall of Mt. Baldy. In pool skating he was a clear innovator as witnessed by my lens, and Craig Stecyk's even earlier when he was interviewed in SkateBoarder magazine's first ever "Pool Riding Symposium." Bob early on received the coveted "Who's Hot" bio, and later, only for the most respected riders, a full length interview in SkateBoarder. He was also voted as one of the top ten Skateboarders of the year in SkateBoarder magazine's first annual poll held in 1977.
Bob "The Bullet" Biniak, original Z-Boy, Bad Ass Mother Fucker, R.I.P. (Idealist Propaganda)
Related: DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys, a book documenting Biniak and fellow skate pioneers, co-created by Friedman and C.R. Stecyk III.
Biniak's passing follows the recent loss of fellow early Dogtown greats Baby Paul and Dennis "Polar Bear" Agnew. There will be a memorial skate for Biniak at the Venice Skate Park (named for Agnew) this Sunday, according to Yo Venice.
