As you know, we’re trying to raise money for the family of Michael “Big Mike” Jeansonne out of love and respect for a dude that showed a love for skateboarding, and a guy that became a central core in the skate community.
By the tail end of January, there will be another way you can contribute, thanks to Jim Thiebaud and the rest of the crew at Deluxe Distribution, home of Real, Anti Hero, Krooked, and numerous other brands of skateboarding goodness. Thanks to Deluxe, we’re stoked to honor our friend in the form of a skateboard under the Actions: Realized line of boards. This is a preview of the board’s top and bottom graphic:
The text that’s too small to read right there says this:
About Mike:
Michael “Big Mike” Jeansonne was the type of skater I hope to become. At 44 years of age, Big Mike was an icon of the southeast Louisiana skate community, a friend to all skaters, and especially prized by his friends from Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Hammond, New Orleans, and all places around and in between. Every Sunday morning, Mike would pull up to our local Dreamland park at the crack of dawn with a truckload of family, friends, meat to put on the grill, and enough gear to set up a shaded campsite for the day, conveniently located yards from the bowl, so no action was missed when it was time to take a break. Everyone that crossed Mike’s path became an addition to his family… people of all ages gravitated to him, from little groms to fellow skate veterans, respect was handily given to him because respect and a love for skateboarding is what Mike radiated. Mike served in the US Navy, was a husband, a brother, a father, a friend, and 100% skateboarder. When Mike passed away, he was doing what he loved …skateboarding. As tragic as that is, and it is, there is some comfort in knowing that he left the Earth while happy. It really hits us now as we realize that Sundays aren’t the same, but we were all lucky to have him, and all of us that knew him will keep his memory alive. Roll forever, Mike.
About the Graphic:
There’s a lot of symbolism in this graphic, both literally and in the design approach.
Mike was a great fan of the art of Wes Humpston, as am I. I attempted to create something that gave a nod to Mike’s appreciation of Wes, as well as a nod to Wes himself. I’ve always thought that Wes drew the greatest wings in the world, so the top of the graphic features two stretched wings, as if ready to take flight. “Big Mike” is written in the shape of a cross because of the skate community he impacted… soon after learning that Big Mike had passed away, nearly every skater that knew (or heard of) Mike had stenciled a tribute to him on their griptape, in a fashion similar to the one in the design. I affixed a Fleur de lis to the top of the cross to represent his connection to the Louisiana skate community. Mike honorably served in the US Navy and still had a love for the water, thus the red white and blue background, with an anchor posed towards the bottom. Inside the base of the cross is a nautical star representing Mike’s wife Darlene, and on either side are two more nautical stars representing Mike’s sons Kyle and Erik.
Underneath that text, you’ll see this image:
This image is based on this photo by our friend Zack:
Finally, here’ s a much larger version of the board:
Once we find out a shipping date, I’ll make sure the world knows about it… just as the world is about to know who Mike was and what he meant to all of us.
