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Born in 1958 in Venice, California, Jim Muir (aka Red Dog) first stepped on a skateboard in 1963 and would become a founding member of Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, and CR Stecyk III’s Santa Monica–based Zephyr skate team, the Z-Boys, that exploded onto the scene at the Del Mar Nationals in March of 1975. After skateboarding’s near- death lull in the late ’60s (due to the limitations of clay wheels), Muir became the first Zephyr rider to use urethane wheels and also convinced Jeff Ho to order them for the rest of the team. Fueling skateboarding’s rebirth along with urethane, the Z-Boys’ aggressive, low-to-the-ground, surf-inspired style quickly replaced the more upright and clean-cut slalom style of the ’60s, becoming a catalyst for skateboarding’s critical second wave.
After the breakup of the Z-Boys, Muir would go on to ride for Sims with Bob Biniak and the two would ultimately test some of the first laminated skateboard decks ever built. Following another industry collapse at the dawn of the ’80s, Muir would trademark the Dogtown name and eventually sit at the helm of the hugely successful Dogtown Skates brand during the late ’80s boom, building a team of superstars including Eric Dressen, Scott Oster, and Aaron “Fingers” Murray and collaborating with his brother, Mike Muir, who by then had become the lead singer for the band Suicidal Tendencies. After a near-fatal surfing accident in March 2009, Jim has battled his way back and stands as one of the most influential forefathers to Venice and skateboarding at large.
