Legends Never Die

Our friend Harold Hunter died this past Thursday, Feb. 17.

Even for a weekend night, there were an unusual number of skaters milling around outside of Max Fish on Friday. The news of Harold's death had reached the Lower East Side, where those who knew him attempted to grapple with this tragedy.

Harold was such a New York kid. You'd see him at parties and if you were a girl, you were probably hit on by Harold more than once. You'd see him skating around town wreaking havoc. Even if you didn't know him, you felt like you knew him from somewhere. Most likely as a skater in Larry Clark's 1995 movie, Kids. Harold pursued more acting gigs after Kids, and continued to skate his ass off for Zoo York. But mostly Harold hung out and made New York more fun. He was just one of the lights that lit up this city. We'll all feel this gigantic loss and miss him forever.

Memorial services for Harold Hunter will be held this Friday, Feb. 24th at the Guidetti Funeral Home at 33 Spring St. (at Mott St.). All are welcome. You can also make a donation to the Harold Hunter Fund.

This Saturday, Feb. 25th, look out for The Harold Hunter Jump Off at 99 No. 10th St. in Williamsburg. Everybody is invited and encouraged to bring chicken wings. Just make sure they are super crispy.

Go to www.haroldhunter.com for more information.

Below, Harold's good friends Patrick O'Dell and Joshua Wildman remember him in writing and photographs.

And here's Harold in his own words: www.myspace.com/haroldhunter

Patrick O'Dell is a photographer and skater who has shot for Thrasher for years and knew Harold pretty well, to say the least.

I can clearly hear Harold's voice in my head...

I went on a skateboard tour with Harold Hunter once, it was a Zoo York tour and we traveled up and down the whole Midwest and East Coast. I've been on a lot of skateboard trips in my life, and at some point the novelty of sitting in a van in a parking lot, at 10 a.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina in front of an I-Hop or skate shop, wears off. Two weeks on the road and everyone is burnt-out, grumpy, not getting along... But everyday there'd be Harold, with a big smile on his face, just cracking jokes... I'd try stubbornly to stay depressed, to stay homesick, but within minutes he'd have me laughing to tears. He was so hilarious... I have so many Harold stories I could tell you, every moment with him was memorable. He's the kind of person you quote for days "oh man, then Harold said..."

I think anyone that's met him has a million quotes and stories... It isn't just hype, he really was a legendary person, with a legendary heart and smile. And I do believe things won't be the same without him.

Joshua Wildman is a photographer who's also logged many hours and endless nights hanging out with Harold at Max Fish.