Bob 'the Bullet' Biniak tributes

Groundbreaking skateboarder Bob Biniak was so uneasy with fame that he once drove around the block seven times before dropping his wife off at a Westside gallery show of skateboarding photographs that undoubtedly featured him.

The last time he hopped on his skateboard — his wife wasn’t sure when that was — he was wearing flip-flops that, of course, led to disaster. As he was coming down a hill, a car pulled out of a driveway. To avoid it, he tried to brake with his foot. "The tip of the flip-flop touches, and he grinds his foot to the bone," said his wife, Charlene Capitolo-Biniak.

One of Robert Edward Biniak’s nicknames was based on his initials, REB, which led to "Rebel."

"He was a wild boy," his wife said, and laughed. "I knew who I was marrying."

"He also was the goofy, funny husband doing inappropriate things to get my goat," she said. "He would put a smile on your face in a second."

His wife sent out the following e-mail regarding tributes being held for Biniak, who died of a heart attack at 51, and a fund set up for memorial donations to benefit the 5-year-old daughter he left behind.

In celebration of Bob “the Bullet” Biniak
please join us for a tribute to Bobby
Saturday March 27th Sunset at Venice Beach Skate Plaza
This will be an open forum and I am hoping you will share your art, written words and favorite Bobby B stories with the community, all are welcome. Details to follow.

Northern California April 10th in Benicia
Jacksonville Beach, Florida June

Please no flowers, remember it’s Bobby B
If you wish to donate to the Brianna Biniak Fund please follow the PayPal link
below.
Love and Light,
Char

http://bit.ly/cgV6Km

 

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: A teenage Bob Biniak rides 22-foot-high Arizona desert pipes in 1977. Credit: Warren Bolster / Concrete Wave Editions' "The Legacy of Warren Bolster"