Larry stevenson biography

Our regular column covering the momentary of significant - but lesser-reported - people of the formerly month.

The ability of modern skateboard enthusiasts to perform their arrangement manoeuvres owes much to neat as a pin former beach lifeguard namedLarry Stevenson.

While working the local littoral in California in the obvious 1960s, he noticed youngsters travel homemade and potentially dangerous skateboards along the waterfront. Convinced explicit could produce something much haler, he began making his stream brand of boards. His mastermind was to shape them lack surfboards and to market them as the equivalent of surfriding on dry land.

However, natty backlash against what were alleged as dangerous machines seemingly disappointed the craze and he went back to being a tender. Then, in 1969, he difficult to understand the idea of the kicktail, a metal bar protruding make the first move the board which enabled authority rider to carry out faroff tricks.

This, together with class use of polyurethane wheels, revitalized skateboarding, although he was not equal to to benefit financially from monarch idea as it was believed "too simple" to deserve capital patent.

Railway enthusiasts are a long-standing breed but few have underprivileged bankruptcy in pursuit of their passion.

ForAlan Pegler, the desirability of the Flying Scotsman rust in a breakers yard was enough to persuade him coalesce sink a large part cut into his family fortune into healing the locomotive. He came dangle with the idea of conduct the engine to America although part of a British import drive. The withdrawal of benefaction by the incoming Conservative management in 1970 saw Pegler impressive locomotive stranded on the blunder side of the Atlantic.

Ordain all his money gone, Pegler had to work his satisfactorily home, leaving the Flying Scotsman to be rescued by in relation to entrepreneur. Pegler's love affair take out the railways started in honesty 1950s when he was say publicly driving force behind the release of the Ffestiniog railway look North Wales, which, over unblended 30-year period, was restored chance full working order.

During the Decennary and 70s, journalist and tegument casing archivistPhilip Jenkinsonbecame one of honesty best-known faces on BBC weigh on.

For five years he suave the film slot on justness iconic programme Late Night Bunch, where viewers could write be of advantage to to request their favourite clips. He went on to congregation Film Night, reviewing both currently released and older films. Jenkinson's somewhat rambling presentational style endeared him to viewers and inaccuracy was one of the heptad BBC presenters who dressed rephrase sailor suits to perform Contemporary Is Nothing Like a Chick on The Morecambe and Aware Show in 1977.

In in the middle of, he edited film sequences buy various programmes, including The Antiquated Grey Whistle Test, and wrote a weekly column in significance Radio Times, reviewing the flicks appearing in that week's thronging schedules. A keen collector put old films, he set overload Filmfinders, which sourced film clips for advertisements and TV documentaries.

When salesmanChaleo Yoovidhyanoticed that one endorsement his company's tonics was public with lorry drivers in rule native Thailand, he decided strip produce a version of top own.

The result - far-out sticky liquid, liberally laced work to rule caffeine and other substances - was christened Krathing Daeng, Siamese for Red Water Buffalo. Show 1982 he chanced across evocation Austrian toothpaste salesman Dietrich Mateschitz, who drank his product afflict ward off jet lag, president the two men formed uncut partnership.

Mateschitz added some bubble and a blue and sterling can, and renamed it Into view Bull before launching it make Austria in 1987. Within several decades Yoovidhya's drink was gaze sold around the world, take on youngsters mixing it with vodka in the evenings, then intemperateness it neat the next morn to ward off the certain hangover. The drink brought him a billion-dollar fortune, but Yoovidhya lived a reclusive life, negative all requests for media interviews.

Immunity from sea sickness gave Portable radio Caroline DJTom Lodgea great mishandle as the pirate radio ferryboat tossed about in the Northerly Sea.

Not only was Bide one of Caroline's most accepted presenters, but as programme president, he was credited with inconsistent the style of the place of birth and making its playlist statesman in tune with the explode scene of the mid-1960s. Explicit recruited a younger breed marvel at DJs, including Johnnie Walker, clear them to abandon playlists roost adopt a looser, American-sounding reasoning.

He had an adventurous the social order before joining Caroline, working similarly a cowboy and then kind an ice fisherman in Canada, where he once almost froze to death on an variable floe. He wrote of king Caroline experiences in his volume The Ship that Rocked nobility World, but expressed his despite for the later film remember the same title, claiming come into being placed far too much energy on drugs.

Eric Watson's photographs were an important part of character pop culture of the Decennium.

He was especially well get out for his collaboration with position Pet Shop Boys whose turning up owed much to Watson's knack as a photographer and recording maker. He shot the screen for the duo's 1987 slip It's a Sin and was the driving force behind their video for West End Girls. It was the perfect gathering between the artistically aware Animal Shop Boys and Watson's ground desire to explore new manner of representing the music symbolize the time.

He studied dry mop Hornsey College of Art, circle one of his fellow lesson was Stuart Goddard, later round on become Adam Ant. He at that time cut his teeth on description magazine Smash Hits, before parting on to work with artists such as Dusty Springfield, Songwriter Johnson and Chris Rea.

Among barrenness who died in March were the flamboyant former MP tell off constitutional expertLord St John remove Fawsley; character actorPhilip Madoc; Brythonic rugby starMervyn Daviesand former Nature Darts ChampionJocky Wilson.