THE ENDLESS WAVE:
A Skateboarder's Perspective on Death, Dying and Spirituality
When Michael Brooke decided to sell his skateboarding magazine Concrete Wave three years ago, he wasn't too sure what would happen next. He knew he wanted to do something different, but admits he was as surprised as anyone when he wound up working as a funeral director's assistant.
"Being around death gives you a very special appreciation of life. This job forces you each day to consider your own mortality and really consider what is truly valuable" says Michael.
A skater since 1975, Michael wrote The Concrete Wave in 1999. The book sold over 42,000 copies, spawned a 52 part TV series and was the catalyst for the Spin Magazine article entitled The Lords of Dogtown.
The Concrete Wave also became a magazine that Michael founded in 2002. As he looked back on his decades as a skater and a publisher he began to ruminate on what he was experiencing at the funeral home. He started to get feeling there might be a book opportunity.
A few years ago, Michael created a personal playlist on Spotify called "Songs to Play at My Funeral. "Music plays such an important role in my life and I wanted to ensure the songs were important to me would be featured once I'd passed."
In early 2021, Michael started up a podcast called A Tranquil Passage based on the idea of music and remembrance . It's a podcast that features the songs people would like played at their funeral or end of life celebration.
It was here that he met up with Nathan Ho, a skateboarder who is based in Sydney, Australia. Nathan had written a comment about skateboarding and spirituality on a website that resonated with Michael. "I emailed Nathan to be a part of my podcast and he was a terrific guest. It was soon after, that I realized that Nathan would be the perfect person to collaborate on a book with" explains Michael.
As a Skateboarder, Artist, Author and Clairvoyant Healer, Nathan has invested his fair share of years in both worlds of Skateboarding and Metaphysics. He is passionate about writing to analyse, dissect and explain spiritual concepts in simple yet profound ways.
Through his own journey of self-discovery, Nathan learnt the value in learning to accept and embrace all parts of self, helping him to appreciate the art of helping others to live as the best versions of themselves.
Nathan's pursuit for explaining the often unexplainable is the result of the culmination of his own life experiences of growing up Clairvoyant, his personal journey of healing and serving as a healer and working as an Educator to teach Children and their Families to understand their own Spiritual nature. Nathan attributes this level of self-acceptance as a significant influence in showing up more authentically in life, leading to an overall more enriching and empowering experience on Earth.
Prior to writing Endless Wave, Nathan was taking a break from his writing projects. The day that Nathan set his intentions on writing again was the day that Michael actually contacted Nathan about appearing on his podcast.
In what could be described as a synchronistic expression and sensation of riding from one wave to the next, the conversations between Nathan and Michael flowed, thus came the realisation and actions that followed, resulting in the documentation and development of all that you see here as Endless Wave.
The Endless Wave is a book written by skateboarders for skateboarders. It offers some unique insights that Michael and Nathan hope act as a catalyst for more exploration and discussion.
Brooke, Michael: - "Michael Brooke started skateboarding in 1975 on clay wheels. Within 2 years he'd graduated to a FibreFlex with Bennett Pro Trucks and Road Rider Four wheels. Michael continued skating in the 1980's and gravitated towards freestyle. In the late 80's he picked up a longboard (Schmitt Yardstix). When the internet first started up in the mid 90's, he posted his skate story on the Dansworld Skateboarding website.This posting led to him creating the SkateGeezer Homepage - an homage to old school skateboarding. From here, Michael wound up writing a book on the history of skateboarding. An advance copy of the book was sent to Spin Magazine in early 1999. This led to a 1999 article in the magazine that served as a catalyst for the 2002 documentary "Dogtown and Z Boys" along with the feature film "Lords of Dogtown." Entitled "The Concrete Wave", the book sold over 42,000 copies and spawned a 52 part TV series. After the success of the book, Michael launched International Longboarder Magazine. As co-publisher and founder, his mission was to widen the scope of skateboarding that the other skate media wouldn't cover. International Longboarder eventually morphed in 2002. Michael wore many hats as the publisher and the magazine eventually hit over 100,000 readers worldwide. In 2012, Michael founded Longboarding for Peace. The movement has done a number of unique projects including working with police departments in Southern California to exchange guns for longboards. IN 2018, Michael sold Concrete Wave and embarked on a new career as a funeral director's assistant. As he thought about his over 40 plus years riding while surrounded by death, he realized he had something new to write about. A chance viewing of a post by Nathan Ho was all that was needed to start a collaboration that has turned into The Endless Wave."
Ho, Nathan: - Nathan is a passionate Skateboarder at Heart and a lifelong Clairvoyant. As a Clairvoyant, Nathan perceives and interacts with the world of energy and spirit to help and heal people. Skateboarding empowered Nathan to embrace his individuality, which led him on a journey of self-discovery, personal transformation and finding new ways to express himself. Endless Wave has been the perfect outlet for him to express his love of the Spiritual found in Skateboarding.
