Tim Brauch * was a respected professional skateboarder who will be honored this year by the dedication of a 20,000-square-foot skatepark * in his memory.

I had the good fortune to meet and interview Tim in about 1996 *, and the experience was certainly a positive one. (See our interview with Tim Brauch).

Cliff Barret, Scotts Valley's Vice Mayor, said of Tim, "He's a person I could back. He was a good person doing his thing and helping other people. He's a good example for us." The city is to receive a $25,000 donation in return for naming the park in his memory, an idea proposed by Duke Brower, who owns the Momentum boardshop, and Cindy Busenhart of Sessions *.

Tim died in 1999 * at the age of 25 from a heart condition. He lived in San Jose but spent much of his time in Scotts Valley working at Sessions, who was also his skateboard sponsor.

The skateboard that Tim used to win the 1998 * Vans Triple Crown * Championship is part of the Smithsonian's Collection for the National Museum of American History, and is accompanied by other notable sports artifacts including a fight robe of Mohammad Ali's, a baseball uniform of Hank Aaron's, and one of Michael Jordan's basketball jerseys.

Tim was also a founder of Este clothing, named after the first initials of the first names of himself and Sessions co-worker and friend Salman Agah *.

Said Duke Brower, the owner of Momentum Board Shop and a former co-worker of Tim's, "Twenty years from now, when a new kid comes to the skatepark, I hope he’ll read something about Tim there and say, ‘I wish I would have known him.' "

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