Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Mike Bouchard.



RIP Mike.

I scanned this in last week because I always liked the Sub Zero board graphic. Then when I got the new issue of Thrasher yesterday, I was bummed to see that he had passed away.

This was written by Ricky Oyola on the Traffic website:

"I got news this past week that a good friend of mine has passed away. Mike "Boosh" Bouchard died in his sleep. I don't know what to say really but I know he had friends in the skate community from all over world. He was a ripper to say the least and he definitely stoked me out to go skating. He spent time in Colorado and in Florida but always made it back home here in and around Philly. We had great times blazing the streets of Philly, hitting Love and beyond. A more closer time period is when he lived a few blocks from me in South Philly and we started skating the warehouse. In the beginning of the warehouse days, we would skate with the whole squad getting used to all the different trannies and then him and I would come back during the days while all the hessians were at work and we would try and learn all the lines we saw the previous night. Without his presence and push I would have never learned to skate the warehouse the way I did and some of you might remember a sequence I shot there that I coined "THE BOOSH RIDE". I tried to get that phrase known but still fuckers call it a hippie wall ride. You need someone to help push you and Boosh was my partner in crime for a good stretch. He was always down to help me with my crazy concoctions that at least we called skate spots. He had no fear when it came to grinding shit, realistically I don't think he had fear in general. He was a go for it type guy, there to give you the extra motivation if you needed it. Had Far East, a company out of Florida would have stuck around I am sure more of you would have heard about him. He had some clips in my New Deal 7 Year Glitch part and he had a classic Thrasher cover shot from Love shot by Kelly Ryan. Rest in Peace my friend."

*

If it was Phillie and 1996, then Ryan Gee was taking the photo.

Slap - November 1996 Volume 5 Number 11

18 comments:

Keith said...

RIP Mike.

It seems that almost all of the photos of that gap look good.

EricWagner said...

You know, I think Rick would know who shot the photo. Don't you? KR also a mean photographer. RIP Boosh.

justin said...

I think the Boosh Ride sequence Ricky was talking about was in Big Brother on either a Philadelphia and/or East Coast tour. Rick Kosick probably was the photographer.

maximilian said...

R.I.P. from Denmark!

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure the Boosh ride sequence was in an issue of Skateboarder where Oyola also had a photo of a f/s boardslide up a slide in a playground, around 2000 - 2002 sometime. RIP Mike

justin said...

Was there video of it in a Big Brother video? Or maybe 7 Year Itch? I swear I remember seeing footage somewhere. I think Ricky was riding a board that was shaped like a dagger.

I did a quick look through of some Big Brothers last night and couldn't find it.

I'm going to track this down.

justin said...

That should have been 7 Year Glitch.

Anonymous said...

First off RIP. But Ricky, c'mon son... don't taint an otherwise heartfelt eulogy with using the phrase "would of" THREE f'n times. It's "would have"!!! Any grammar conscious beings reading that peice must have cringed a few times. Just sayin'...

Old School Sammy said...

Anon #2---the guy was typing a heartfelt dedication to his lost friend--can you save the "Miss Grammar" silliness for when it really counts? Yeesh--pathetic...

I lost my best friend of 18 years back in August (FAR too soon), it's not something easy to deal with--trust me...

Justin said...

I fixed the "would of's". I only quickly skimmed this when I posted it and it seemed mostly OK.
Typos happen. It's not the end of the world.

Pamela Steele said...

First off I want to thank you all for the kind words of my lil brother Mike. We miss him dearly. We are looking for any video's or pictures off him so that we may put together a memorial for him. He loved to skate and loved his skater friends.

If you have anything. pictures, video's etc. please shoot me an e-mail at djandbg@msn.com.

Rest in Peace Michael. You will be missed more then you could ever know. Love you!

Pamela Steele said...

I miss my brother Mikey so much!! Got into talking about him tonight with a friend and I burst. Michael will forever be remembered by many and this year in his honor I am having a skateboard tattoo'ed on my foot so we can forever ride together until we meet up again.

elusion said...

I just found out today that Mike died because a mutual friend googled him and found this site, he lived with my family off and on around 94-95ish in florida. I always looked up to him as an older brother and have so many good memories in my heart. We lost touch about 10 years ago and it truly breaks my heart to see that he has passed on... My mom has loads of photos of him and I've called and asked her to send them on to his sis, is that still her email addy?

he was one of the sweetest funniest guys and had a heart of gold. rip brother <3 you... Cassandra

Justin said...

I've got no idea if her email works. It might. I emailed a couple of other scans, but never heard anything back.

Starr458 said...

I would appreciate any pictures of Mike that you have, if you see this. My e-mail address is csiraca@yahoo.com. Mike was my older brother and I would love to have/see whatever photos you might have.

The only person I can remember off hand him living with in Florida is Gavin, but that was MANY years ago so I could be wrong. Plus I am sure there were more, he was always on the go.

Thank you to whatever you can send and for these posts! Not a day goes by that I do not think of Mike and losing him.

Justin, if you have still have those e-mails and can forward to the above address, I would appreciate it. My sister, Pam, has been through a lot in the past year+.

Thanks again!!

Pamela Steele said...

I am sorry I haven't gotten back to anyone. If you e-mail anything to me recently or since the month of February, I would not have seen it. My home was destroyed in a fire on 02/25. My e-mail is djandbg@msn.com, if you send something label is Mike Bouchard. Please. This way it wont be passed by as spam. We are missing him a whole lot and I would love to create a collage or something of him. He is so deeply missed. His smile, his laugh, him just being here.

Eliot said...

Just watched the Static 1 section again where Mike does that bank to bank ollie on those brick banks. He's still inspiring skaters even after his passing and he will always continue to do so. RIP.

Phil said...

I grew up with Mike I lower bucks county. We skated up until around 6th grade when he moved. I did a search to see when he was up to. It saddens me that he’s gone. Amazing talent , funny kid.