Bob Osborn, owner of Wizard Publications, which published iconic magazines BMX Action (née Bicycle Motocross Action), FREESTYLIN’, and briefly Homeboy, as well as the book The Complete Book of BMX (1984), is a the kind of person the world could do to have a few more of. His free spirit and eye for talent indirectly influenced the course of my life. By hiring younger, kindred spirits on little more than a hunch (e.g., Andy Jenkins, Spike Jonze, and Mark Lewman), he changed the face and voice of BMX bicycles, as well as the lives of many who rode and read about them from the mid-70s to the early-90s.

McGoo McGruther, no stranger to the small but influential world of BMX, recently interviewed Osborn for Chop Cult, and I’m happy to report that his spirit is as free as ever, and he’s still rolling tough on two wheels.