{{Short description|American skateboard designer}} {{about||the American photographer|Eric Minh Swenson|the Swedish gymnast in the 1920 Olympics|Erik Svensén}} '''Eric Leon Swenson''' (August 4, 1946 – June 20, 2011) was an American skateboard designer and magazine publisher.
Born in San Francisco, Swenson was the chief skateboard designer for Independent Truck Company, which he co-founded with skateboard entrepreneur Fausto Vitello in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-16 |title=Eric Swenson, Co-Founder of Thrasher Magazine, Dies at 64 - The New York Times |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |access-date=2024-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716053929/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 }}</ref> In 1981, he co-founded ''Thrasher'' magazine with Vitello. ''Thrasher'' is credited with helping to revitalize the popularity of skateboarding during the last two decades of the 20th century. He also played an instrumental role in helping to elevate skateboarding from a hobby into an internationally recognized sport.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html?ref=deathsobituaries|title=Eric Swenson, Co-Founder of Skateboarding Magazine, Dies at 64|author=Bruce Weber|date=June 23, 2011|work=The New York Times}}</ref> He was a fan of punk and hard rock, and befriended a number of musicians. Swenson's hobbies included playing guitar and repairing motorcycles and other vehicles, although he did not skateboard himself.
Swenson shot himself in front of a San Francisco police station on June 20, 2011, reportedly to spare his family from discovering his body.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-16 |title=Eric Swenson, Co-Founder of Thrasher Magazine, Dies at 64 - The New York Times |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |access-date=2024-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716053929/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 }}</ref> He was 64.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-16 |title=Eric Swenson, Co-Founder of Thrasher Magazine, Dies at 64 - The New York Times |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |access-date=2024-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716053929/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 }}</ref> According to his wife, he had suffered from joint problems for the past several years, aggravated by a leg injury suffered in a 1972 motorcycle accident; in the months prior to his death, the pain was becoming unbearable to him.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-16 |title=Eric Swenson, Co-Founder of Thrasher Magazine, Dies at 64 - The New York Times |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |access-date=2024-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716053929/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/business/media/24swenson.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Thrasher (magazine)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swenson, Eric}} Category:1946 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American magazine publishers (people) Category:Businesspeople from San Francisco Category:Suicides by firearm in California Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:2011 suicides