The latest episode of Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding is dedicated to the life of Mark Hubbard, the man behind Grindline Skateparks and the person who, alongside Mark Scott, began building under the Burnside Bridge and so helped kickstart the entire DIY spot building revolution.

The Pacific Northwest-based Grindline Skateparks, alongside Mark Scott’s Dreamland Skateparks, are between them are responsible for the majority of gnarly American parks that you’ve seen crop up in videos from Anti Hero, Creature, Lifeblood and their ilk, so it’s not hyperbole to say that modern transition skateboarding has been indelibly shaped by Monk’s work over the years. This Loveletters eschews the usual format of talking heads and draws from various interviews with Monk over the years talking concrete, music and the cosmos.

Archive footage of Hubbard charging concrete across the globe (kickflip Texas plants are still the one!) is interspersed with random footage from global DIY builds to highlight his impact on skate culture (coincidentally featuring snippets of Lee Rozee, Blinky, Alex Hallford and Dean Greensmith) and the resulting video manages to both remember Monk in a touching fashion and also make you really, really want to go out to skate/build. The soundtrack is also entirely provided by Grindline The Band, giving some idea of how many creative outlets the man had on the go.

All hail Hubbard, crack a can and do a Texas plant in his memory today. For more of his unique world view, we can definitely recommend checking out the incredible documentary The Cult of Concrete.

“Renegade Skateparks…that means build your own paradise.”

“Mark “Monk” Hubbard was a skateboarder, artist, musician, builder, dreamer, and visionary. This Loveletter is a tribute to Monk in his own words‬.”

While you’re on a concrete and DIY hype here’s an extended excuse to procrastinate with Thrasher’s Under the Bridge video, which takes in a number of the more iconic DIY skateparks to be found in the US.