Everything you've ever heard about him is probably true, or should be anyway.

In the late 1970s, Jay Adams was a leading figure in the vert skateboarding scene rising from a seedy section of Santa Monica and Venice known as Dogtown.Adams had been a talented member of the Dogtown-based Zephyr Skate Team, known as the Z-Boys. Together they helped shape modern skateboarding with an aggressive attitude and style born in the streets, and maneuvers inspired by their favorite surfers.
In the early 80's it all went downhill for Jay. He turned his back on pro skating (he hated the commercialism that came with it), hung out with the wrong people and started doing drugs.
At one point he got involved in a fight, someone died and he was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to six months in prison.
From there on it was in and out of prison for Adams for about 2 decades.
In the late 90's he was in his own words, “a down-and-out junkie.”
After a documentary and a feature film about the Z-Boys gained international attention, Jay seemed to be able to climb out of this black hole, sign some endorsement deals and for the first time make some money out of his cult status. Alas, he started doing drugs again, and was arrested in 2005 after being wiretapped by the feds on a meth deal.
Adams did time in Oregon and is currently in a half way house in Garden Cove, CA.
He works as a facilities manager at an indoor skatepark.

(photo: Mark Avery)