The co-founder of Thrasher magazine, Eric Swenson, committed suicide on Monday in front of a police station in San Francisco. Swenson also co-founded Independent Trucks and Spitfire wheels, and he helped to create High Speed Productions Inc, which publishes Thrasher, Slap, and Juxtapoz magazines. In a statement on its website, Thrasher wrote, "Never one to clamor for the spotlight, he preferred the hard work, orchestrating the show from behind the scenes." He was 64.

You can read most back issues of Thrasher on the site, all scanned from the original pages. It's a great time waster if you were ever into skateboarding.

[SF Chronicle; Swenson image and covers via Thrasher]