H
e may talk softly, but Lester Kasai skates
a big stick. Lester was born to parents.
of
Japanese (Nai-Chi and Okinawan)
heritage in Anaheim, California, and spent his form-
ative skate years exploring the abundant ditches,
pools and parks of that area. In the glory days of
Whittier and Del Mar skateparks
INTERVIEW
and the throughout the ASPO
and Pro/Am circuits during the first half of the 80s,
Lester was a force to be dealt with at every contest.
Always low key, he never bitched or vibed, but when
his board was under his feet everyone would stop:
to hear him skate. If Lester was in the shallow end
he was always in the top ten, and more often in the
top three. One memorable moment was at the Rusty
Harris Memorial Pro/Am event held in Upland's burly
combi-pool. Out of a sponsored amateur field that
included household names like Hawk, Miller, Gator,
Steadham, Nash, Grosso and Park, it was Lester
who rose to challenge pro Pipeline master Micke
Alba. Lester ended up second on that day but earned
the respect of pros Hosoi, Ruff, McGill and Mountain.
Over the last few years Lester has been in and out
of the spotlight and busy with his new company
House of Kasai. We sent former skate mate Spidey
to talk with and M.Fo to shoot Lester in his environ-
ment and discovered-like the saying goes-his
actions speak louder than his words. ▸
"I think Lester is crazy. I won't see him skate for
months and then skate with him and he'll be sketchy
at first then he'll just blow my mind. He can skate
anything."Steve Alba
"Lester's ahead of his time." - Jeff Grosso
LESTER
"I was walking home with
my cousin Terrence and I
saw a board in the trashcan.
I took it and have been
skating ever since."
SKATE CARDING
NON EL
HINE
ITALIA
ASAI