San Diego, CA
Patti McGee, pioneering pro skateboarder with a San Diego youth, dies at 79
Stand at the top of the Loring Street hill in Pacific Beach — one of the steepest in San Diego — and let yourself be transported back to the early 1960s, when children and teenagers flew down the precipitous grade on makeshift skateboards, the ocean sprawled in the distance ahead.
These were some of skateboarding’s first takers, the kids who helped pave the way for future generations of a sport that for decades was widely seen as a societal menace and a fringe subculture.
Among these skaters was Patti McGee. For the Point Loma teen, skateboarding down Loring Street was just another way to kill time when the surf blew out in the afternoon and she wasn’t ready to go home to do homework.
Loring Street “was a challenge. That was like surfing a big wave, if you could make it,” McGee told the skateboarding magazine Juice in 2017.
Seeking a challenge and staying active were part of what drew her to skateboarding. But McGee — who died Oct. 16 at her home in Brea at 79 following a recent stroke — was also a natural.
Considered the world’s first professional female skateboarder, McGee carved a name for herself in the sport when it was even more dominated by men than it is today.
Her career kicked off in 1964 when she took first place at the inaugural national skateboarding championships in Santa Monica, clinching the win with her signature trick, a handstand on the skateboard.
That move was later cemented into the culture’s history when she graced the cover of LIFE magazine in May 1965, feet high in the air, board rolling beneath her.
After the win in Santa Monica, McGee received a brand deal with skateboard manufacturer Hobie and traveled the country promoting its boards.
She was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2010. That year, San Diego’s then-Councilmember Kevin Faulconer gave her a special commendation honoring her achievements.
But becoming a trailblazer for women in skateboarding wasn’t exactly the goal for McGee; the San Diego Evening Tribune reported in 1965 that she wanted to pursue acting or be a “movie stunt girl.”
“She was a sweet angel, but she was also a wild woman,” her daughter Hailey Villa, 46, told the Union-Tribune last week. McGee is also survived by her son, Forest Villa, 45, as well as two grandchildren and her brother, Jack.
“She did a lot of different things in her life,” Villa said, pointing to her mother’s time working in turquoise mining and leather goods and even at a casino. “Skateboarding was just kind of a little blip.”
McGee was born on August 23, 1945, at Fort Lewis in Washington state, and her family moved to San Diego when she was about 5 years old. Her parents split when she was young, and she was mostly raised by her mother, who worked at Montgomery Junior High School.
McGee’s youth was in many ways a quintessential San Diego one.
Like many skaters of the 1960s, she had begun as a surfer — first surfing in 1958 and hitting spots such as Newport Street, North Beach and Ocean Beach and in La Jolla, at the shores and Windansea.
When she was 16, she ventured up the coast for more — to Tamarack, Oceanside, Doheny and County Line, she told Skateboarder magazine in 1965, when she was on its cover.
The president of an all-girls surf team in 1963, McGee described herself as a “rowdy surfer” — unafraid to be aggressive as one of the few girls in the water, when “guys would just push you out of the way or kick out into your ankles, like, ‘My wave,’” she told Juice.
McGee first found her way to a skateboard in 1962 through a DIY project: Her brother, Jack, stole the wheels off her roller skates and attached them to a wooden board he’d made in shop class.
Later, she rode a Bun Buster, equipped with those same wheels from her roller skates.
She and her friends cruised the streets of San Diego, even the parking garage of downtown San Diego’s Concourse — their Mount Everest, as she described it.
They were unruly, and they always got in trouble.
“Thank you for helping to pave the way for all of us when skateboarding was simply considered a ‘menace’ in the 1960’s,” Tony Hawk wrote in a recent Instagram post in her memory.
McGee was also a member of the Pump House Gang, a group of teen surfers who gathered around a sewage pump house at Windansea Beach in the 1960s. The writer Tom Wolfe later wrote an essay about the group and named his 1968 collection of essays after it.
But her 1964 championship win in Santa Monica inexorably changed her life.
Her one-year, $250-a-month brand deal with skateboard maker Hobie took her around the country, where she demonstrated skateboarding in department stores and shopping malls, largely for audiences of children.
Landing the cover of LIFE propelled McGee to yet another level of recognition. Soon after the iconic shoot, she booked appearances on the game show “What’s My Line?” and the “Mike Douglas Show” and taught Johnny Carson to skate on “The Tonight Show.”
At the time, mainstream culture was still deciding how it felt about skateboarding. Initially seen as a fun new fad for kids and often dubbed “sidewalk surfing,” by the late 1960s and 70s it was more widely considered a nuisance, something for kids up to no good.
McGee and her generation saw that shift firsthand and are part of the reason that skateboarding became closely associated with punk, said Haley Watson, a filmmaker who was working on a documentary about McGee before she passed away.
“There’s no way that skateboarding as we know it would take the shape that it has without Patti,” Watson said.
McGee returned to San Diego after her national tour in the mid-’60s, but she didn’t stay long.
She soon moved to Lake Tahoe with her first husband, Glen Villa, where they mined turquoise and made leather goods. Later she moved to Cave Creek, Ariz., where she raised two children, gave tours to tourists panning for gold. There, she met her second husband, William Chace, who died in 2015.
But there was little concrete in their rural town, and few places to skate, Villa remembers — her mom would take her and her brother to a nearby elementary school to skateboard.
And when she was in third grade, her mother brought a skateboard team to her school to give a demonstration. Among its members was Tony Hawk.
“I think that was the day I understood my mom was more special in the skateboarding realm,” Villa recalls.
Villa became a skater herself, and she and McGee founded the Original Betty Skateboard Company, which spawned its own all-girls skate team, sponsoring young skaters, some of whom went on to compete in the Olympics.
The family bond was clear to Watson.
“It was very evident to me that she really loved her family and that she had a very special connection with her daughter,” the filmmaker said. “They had so much of their own language.”
McGee’s story was brought to a younger, wider audience in 2021, when Orange County author and school librarian Tootie Nienow published the children’s book “There Goes Patti McGee! The Story of the First Women’s National Skateboard Champion,” illustrated by Erika Medina.
Nienow became close with McGee as she wrote the book.
McGee could make a person feel like they were the only one in the room, Nienow said — a sentiment echoed by McGee’s friend and skatemate Di Dootson Rose, who was also inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame earlier this year.
She was “magnetic,” Rose said, recalling how McGee would connect with people, sometimes placing her hands on their faces and really looking them in the eyes. “People would let her in.”
The skateboarder’s charm and talent captivated her friends and family — and the world.
Rose points to McGee’s LIFE cover in 1965 — a far cry, she said, from some of the magazine’s more serious covers of that time.
“Then one day they come out with this sky blue cover of a blonde, upside down (doing a) handstand — white capris and a red sweater,” Rose said. “If that isn’t a breath of fresh air, then I don’t know what is.”
The nonprofit Exposure Skate will hold a ceremony for McGee at its annual skate event for women and nonbinary skaters in Encinitas this Saturday at 5 p.m.
- Chinese smartphone company Honor on Thursday announced backing from new investors as the Huawei spinoff prepares for an initial public offering.
- The new backers include China Telecom and CICC Capital.
- Honor said earlier this year it planned to start changing its shareholder structure in the fourth quarter, and start the IPO process “at a suitable time.”
BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Honor on Thursday announced backing from new investors as the Huawei spinoff prepares for an initial public offering.
The new backers are: China Telecom — one of the major telecommunications operators in the country — CICC Capital, Chinese venture capital firm Cornerstone and SDG, a fund linked to a Shenzhen economic zone. Honor said its existing partners also made a new investment round through an entity called Jinshi Xingyao.
Honor said earlier this year it planned to start changing its shareholder structure in the fourth quarter, after which it would start the IPO process “at a suitable time.”
The company has not said where it would list. Honor announced its IPO plans in November 2023.
Honor spun off from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in November 2020 after the parent company was hit by U.S. sanctions. Huawei said it does not hold any shares in Honor or have involvement in business decisions.
Last week, Honor revealed the next version of its operating system can use AI to mimic actions on a touchscreen, such as opening an app to order coffee delivery. The company on Wednesday released its new Magic7 series of phones that can use the AI features in China.
Just under one-third of Honor’s sales came from outside China in the first half of this year, according to Counterpoint.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
Shane Gerde says he’s noticed a shift recently. “Five of my friends in the last three years have moved out to La Mesa,” he says. “There’s a lot of people that have gotten priced out of North Park and South Park in these areas, that have moved out to East County that want a cool place that they go to.”
When his business partner Adam Cook, who also owns Bluefoot Bar & Lounge in North Park, saw the old Coo Coo Club property for sale, Gerde said he immediately knew what he wanted to build. “I was like, if you did a country bar in East County, it would go over pretty well.” Fast forward two years, and Neon Moon will open on Wednesday, October 30 in Lakeside.
Gerde originally hails from Washington State and says that roadside bars he’d stop at when driving through rural areas of Montana and Idaho inspired him. But he wanted to create something thoughtful, “a bar that feels transportive,” he explains, driven by quality cocktails and ambiance.
Cook is no stranger to early entry into burgeoning neighborhoods, either—when he opened Bluefoot in 2006, North Park had hardly begun to emerge as a destination for locals, much less tourists. Now, it’s known as one of the hippest neighborhoods in the country, recognized by outlets like Forbes and Travel Mag.
They formally acquired the space around 18 months ago, with Cook and Sarah McAlear as principal owners, Gerde as an operating partner, and Sina Kennedy as another partner. They had to completely gut it to create a 21+ concept partially inspired by ’70s and ’80s country bars in Texas.
Inside features a lounge area with a working fireplace, along with a stained oak bar and crushed velvet orange chairs for a lived-in living room feel, explains Gerde. He handled much of the design, inspired by elements like his dad’s old Chevy pickup.
“The seating area has green vinyl booths, and I mirrored the stitch pattern off of one of my dad’s old trucks,” Gerde says. “Then you work your way down to the dance floor, three steps from the bar and lounge area with a checkered floor.” A disco ball and velvet paintings lead past two pool tables before getting to the outside patio.
“It looks like a really well-done backyard patio,” he promises, with another fireplace, string lights, corn hole, darts, and passionfruit vines growing along a hog wire fence. “The outside also has a full working bar… everything that’s available inside is available outside,” he explains.
Cook and Gerde brought on Nickey Bakke to manage the bar program, which will incorporate her experience at places like the tiki sensation Tonga Hut in Los Angeles, Market in Del Mar, and South Congress venue The Continental Club in Austin, Texas. Neon Moon will offer four draft cocktails, a typical menu, 10 draft beers, and at least 25 cans and bottles.
Expect tiki-inspired offerings, riffs on classics like an Old Fashioned and espresso martini, and novelties like a Rattlesnake margarita inspired by Bali Hai’s famous Mai Tai and served in a chilled mug. It’s made with anejo tequila, mezcal, agave nectar, lime, and Everclear because “what’s more country than Everclear?” he laughs. “High-proof neutral spirit? Absolutely.”
Gerde says he hopes Neon Moon will be different in a neighborhood lacking specific product-driven places to hang out but seems familiar to everyone who walks in. “I think that when they get there, they’ll feel like they’re in another place in time,” he says. He hopes to be a part of the area’s evolution as well. “I think East County is going to change,” he muses. “There’s plenty of room out there.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
San Diego Beer Week Begins This Friday
Friday, November 1, kicks off the 16th annual San Diego Beer Week, hosted by the San Diego Brewers Guild. The 10-day event takes place at breweries, bars, restaurants, and brewpubs across the county to celebrate local, independent, craft beer, starting with a virtual kick-off toast at 7:30 p.m. Be sure to check the Guild’s website for a calendar of activities and social media for pop-up events and more opportunities to partake.
Don’t miss the annual Capital of Craft IPA collaboration beer, a West Coast IPA available on draft and in cans at all Guild member breweries during Beer Week. Festivities wind down at the Capital of Craft Beerfest on Saturday, November 9, behind Kilowatt Brewingon Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. Get your tickets to the 21+ event here.
AKA
Beth’s Bites
- “Cancer bad, cocktails good” seems universally agreed upon by those who imbibe for a cause. On Friday, November 1, head to Understory Bar for the Susan G. Komen Sip for a Cause with F&K Spirits to raise money and awareness of breast cancer.
- It’s hard to know what news is real right now, but it appears that Pancho Villa in North Park is, in fact, actually closing. Get your tortillas while you still can.
- Nightlife venue and Asian-inspired restaurant AKA is now open at 611 Fifth Avenue, with plenty of plates, cocktails, and sexily-lit moodiness.
- Free pizza, anyone? Mr. Moto is teaming up with the YMCA to offer a free pizza every Monday in November to raise money for the YMCA’s Solidarity Journey, a program aiming to end youth homelessness across San Diego. More information is available here, and yes, some exclusions apply.
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
The San Diego State assistant coaches were talking after practice a few days ago, and newbie Ryan Badrtalei from UC Irvine was wondering how many fans would show up for Wednesday night’s preseason game against Division II Cal State San Marcos. A couple hundred, maybe?
He was floored when they told him 12,414-seat Viejas Arena would be two-thirds full.
“For an exhibition?” Badrtalei said.
It might be even more than that.
The arena is practically sold out for all games between season-ticket holders and the student section, the program is coming off a trip to the national championship game and the Sweet 16 (or “7-and-UConn in the NCAA Tournament,” as head coach Brian Dutcher likes to say), and there’s no television or radio coverage of the 7 p.m. tip.
There’s also an added aura of tantalizing mystery surrounding the 2024-25 edition of the Aztecs.
When you have eight new players, when your most experienced returnee is out hurt, when you’re replacing all five starters, when you’re not picked to finish first or second in the Mountain West for the first time in more than a decade, the unknowns outweigh the knowns.
Fans will be interested to see how it all fits together.
So will Dutcher.
“We’re still trying to learn a lot of our set plays,” Dutcher said. “I mean, we know where we’re going but we have to think about it. We just have to move without thinking, and that takes time. It’s the timeline on everything. We’re working every day, we’re getting better. But I don’t think we’re where we need to be yet.
“We’re nowhere near midseason form with a bunch of new guys. We still have some tendencies where we look really new, but we have good talent and our health is about as good as it could be, and I’m encouraged by that.”
Dutcher still hasn’t yet had his full roster together for even a single practice since July, but he has everyone available Wednesday night except senior guard Reese Waters, his top returning scorer (9.6 points) and the only Aztec on the Mountain West preseason all-conference team. That’s a welcome improvement over the Oct. 20 closed-door scrimmage at preseason No. 22 UCLA, when he had eight healthy bodies and six were freshmen or sophomores.
Transfer guard Nick Boyd has been medically cleared after spending two-plus months in a protective boot on his injured left foot (and missing the UCLA scrimmage) and is expected to start. He technically will have a minutes’ restriction, but Dutcher said that shouldn’t be an issue given his tentative plan to sub in groups of five and use his bench liberally.
Dutcher will be watching everyone, of course, but he’ll pay particular attention to the 6-foot-2 point who led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four two seasons ago and had 12 points against the Aztecs before Lamont Butler’s dramatic buzzer-beater.
“He’s been so limited, it’s still a mystery what he’s going to be for us,” Dutcher said. “These guys who have been practicing with us since July, when he got hurt, I’ve seen a lot of them. I haven’t seen enough of Nick over the last few practices to know exactly what I have with him on the floor yet.
“All coaches want a comfort level in knowing what they have. Nick is still somewhat of a mystery to me. I’ve seen really good play from him. But over an extended period of time with the other guys in game minutes, I’m excited to see that.”
Also expected to start are sophomore BJ Davis, redshirt sophomore Miles Byrd, redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath and Middle Tennessee grad transfer Jared Coleman-Jones.
Davis’ spot presumably would be occupied by Waters, who suffered a stress fracture in his right foot and is out another five to seven weeks (and perhaps longer).
The 6-2 guard from Modesto Christian High School appeared in only 12 games (for 67 total minutes last season) and scored 14 points, then doubled that in the UCLA scrimmage.
“We’re a defensive program, but you turn your head at a guy who puts up that kind of points against UCLA,” Dutcher said. “He’s earned his way to start there and see what he’s like. Then I’ll have choices to make, because I have really good players.”
Also available is USD transfer Wayne McKinney III, who missed the UCLA scrimmage with a tweaked hamstring. He’s expected to back up Boyd at the point.
Sophomore forward Miles Heide is the only member of the bench who played significant minutes last season. He’ll be joined in the second unit by McKinney, Brown grad transfer Kimo Ferrari and Las Vegas freshmen Taj DeGourville and Pharaoh Compton.
It’s a lot of new for a program that has excelled by getting old and staying old.
“There’s a public identity for this team that people might not know,” said Byrd, the most experienced returnee. “But this team knows its identity. I think you’ll see the same type of basketball that we’ve played (in the past) but with a little faster-paced offense. We’re still going to play hard, we’re still going to rebound and defend.
“Three of our oldest guards didn’t play in the UCLA scrimmage. That’s just got to show you a lot, honestly. We had three young guys and Kimo, and we were able to compete at Pauley Pavilion against a good, experienced team like UCLA. I’m excited.”
Phelps inducted
Milton “Milky” Phelps, an SDSU star from yesteryear, will be inducted into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame on Friday in Lakeland, Fla. Phelps was the leading scorer on a team that reached the national championship game in 1939 and 1940 and won a national title in 1941.
Back then, SDSU was known as San Diego State College and it played in the National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament, the predecessor to the NAIA. Phelps was a three-time All-American and the first player in school history with 1,000 career points.
His No. 22 is one of three retired men’s jerseys that hang in Viejas Arena, along with Michael Cage’s No. 44 and Kawhi Leonard’s No. 15.
Phelps is one of seven players who are part of the 2024 induction class, along with four coaches and one contributor/player. The Small College Basketball Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and services the college levels below Division I.
Phelps died in 1942 in a Naval training exercise in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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