Ed Templeton

skater 

Ed Templeton started skating in the 1980s as a boy in California. In 1988 (aged 16) he started to get sponsored and in 1990 he turned professional. In the same year he was featured on the front covers of Skateboard magazines TransWorld Skateboarding and Thrasher.

  • World cup winner
  • Spanish Champion
  • Successful artist and photographer

He won the World Cup in Munster. In 1991 he won the Spanish championships. He continued to be a leading force in skating and in 1995 he won Slam City Jam. As time went on he also started an unsuccessful company producing skateboards and had successful careers in art and graphics. His artwork has been very well received and he has won awards and held successful exhibitions.

Ahead of the curve – finding veganism

Ed Templeton turned vegetarian in 1990, and vegan a year later. “At the time, it was the people I was skating with. Mike Vallely and skate photographer Christian Kline were both vegetarians and would take me out to dinner as long as I didn’t order meat. They also gave me things to read.”

Ed feels that the people he was with were always likely to introduce fresh ideas. “Skateboarders are always ahead of the curve. It is a group inherently in the know, full of artists and do-it-yourselfers. Once you read about the meat and dairy industry and the things they do, it is hard to keep supporting them. I didn’t want to partake in the killing of animals or spend my money on the whole system… I think the way I eat should be commonplace. I treat it that way. There is no need to be overly proud of it. It would be like proclaiming: “I didn’t cheat on my wife!” Well, of course, you are not supposed to be doing that. You shouldn’t be eating meat, either.”

Now Ed and his wife run a blog which concentrates on vegan food and travelling.

Interview with Ed

Ed in action

Wikipedia page

More about Ed

Ed’s cartoon

More action

Interview

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