PRE-ORDER WORLD INDUSTRY Jeremy Klein Black Eye Kid 9,4375" x 30,5"

Jeremy Klein Black Eye Kid

When I first met Jeremy Klein he was only 15 years old. Besides being an amazing skater that could adapt to any terrain he was an opinionated, uncompromising, candy consuming, troublemaker that ridiculed anyone and everyone that came across his path. Looking back he reminds me of someone I vaguely remember, and that someone would be me. When he left to start Hook Ups I was not angry or upset. He wanted to do his own thing and so- mehow it just made sense. That was about 35 years ago. During these past few months visiting California I got a chance to reconnect with Jeremy. It was at his warehouse, Korean BBQ, and even walking around a golf course that I slowly realized that Jeremy has not real- ly changed. He is the first one to talk shit about things he doesn’t believe are correct. When walking through his warehouse you are immediately overwhelmed by the shear amount of trash and garbage littering the floors. It is like a 1,000 square foot teenagers bedroom that hasn’t been cleaned in years. He has no employees and is not looking for any. But even more overwhelming is the endless supply of masterpieces. The shear volume and quality of the graphics, even the “worst ones” that did not make the cut, his throwaways, are better than almost anything on the market today. He still utterly uncompromising in that regard. That is an amazing feat. Trust me I know. I think I hung in there about 13 years at most. What I was unprepared for though was the generosity shown at his infamous Korean BBQ dinners. The ones where you cook at the table and Jeremy is the chef. Still opinionated and uncompromising yet in a different way. When you are his guest he makes it his mission to make sure this is the best meal you ever had. Peppered among untellable stories from the past and relentless criticism of the present is an attention to detail that every piece of food that hits your plate must be amazing. If it is not good enough he rings a bell for a wai- tress to throw it in the trash and he will try it again. Usually in life one does not try to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Jeremy no doubt has never heard this phrase. And by the way, it was the best meal I ever had! The accompanying graphic in essence was unk- nowingly a metaphor for Jeremy’s life. He is not out to make friends, nor does he cares if he gets a black eye in his quest to fulfill his vision. It is a trait that is all but gone in skateboar- ding today and I for one, certainly miss it. Most of the above was witnessed by Ian Michna from Jenkem magazine. Sworn to secrecy from the get go, Ian had to sit there with his jaw on the floor. Even for those who think they know about skateboarding’s unwritten history there was enough crazy stories to make the movie, Mid 90’s, look like a children’s fairy tale. Maybe write to Jenkem and he will verify it actually did happen.