Steve Emig Adventuring: Cowboys, Indians, and Oz...

Bob Osborn, known to us Old School BMX guys as Oz, was the founder and publisher of BMX Action, FREESTYLIN', and Go magazines in the 1970's and 1980's, and early 90's. My "big break" as a young guy came from Andy Jenkins asking Oz to give me a shot at Wizard Publications in 1986. Like every BMXer from that era, Oz changed the way I looked at the world.

This is going to be a series of blog posts, maybe two or three. I just realized that as ideas flooded my head. Peter Caruso just shared a great photo on Facebook, a shot of Oz squatting down at the top of the roll-in at Pipeline Skatepark's Combi Pool. Oz was snapping a low, wide angle shot of Mike Dominguez airing over the roll-in. The photo shared was snapped by rider Donovan Ritter, and is a great shot in its own right. In the comments, someone asked, "What's Bob Osborn doing now?"

One smart ass (not me, a different one), told the commenter to Google Oz. I shared a short YouTube video I came across of Oz, a shorter version of this clip above. When I searched YouTube for that clip, I found this one, and two longer videos about Bob, that I haven't watched yet (blog posts 2 & 3, most likely). I immediately bookmarked them, and being a blogger, I knew there was an Oz blog post or two (or 5) in my future. So this is the first one.

When I think of Oz, my first thought is my interview with Oz, Windy, Andy Jenkins, Gork, and Mark "Lew" Lewman, in the conference room of Wizard Publications. It was a good sized room, tucked in the corner of the "L" shaped rows of small offices in the Wizard warehouse. I'd flown down to LAX, after my Pizza Hut shift, and hung out overnight, sleeping on Gork and Lew's couch (given to them by Scot Breithaupt). It was fun, I was blown away they thought I was somebody worthy of working at the magazines. It was early July of 1986, and I was just turning 20, and living in San Jose, California. I sat near one end of the big, folding tables, and all of them were along the other end. I felt like I was on trial, and honestly, I was scared shitless. I was pretty sure I was going to screw that opportunity up, somehow.

I'd met everyone, and then this thin man in jeans and a pretty casual shirt walked in. Bob Osborn, Oz himself. Seriously, meeting the guy who ran those magazines felt like Dorothy and her posse meeting Oz in the Wizard of Oz. I never dreamed that working at BMX Action and FREESTYLIN' was a possibility. I was trying to become a pro freestyler some day. As a general rule, I never notice people's eyes, but Oz walked in, and then turned and looked at me. His eyes were a bright blue, and had an intensity that felt like he was reading who I was at a glance. That's what sticks out to me, like he looked at me and knew who I was in a moment. He was friendly, but serious. They all asked me different questions, and I can't remember any of those questions now. The mood improved, I was still nervous, but relaxed some as we talked about my zine, and the potential job I was being considered for.

At the end, Oz had one last question. He looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "Steve, are you sure you'd like to work here?" Yes, as a BMXer, I realize how insane that question is. I replied, "Yeah, I made 57 pizzas in 4 hours at Pizza Hut last night, I'd LOVE to work here." That answer surprised him, but he laughed. They all laughed. And yes, I actually counted how many pizzas I made at my job the night before, for some reason. Oz got up, excused himself, and said it was nice to meet me, or something like that, and walked out. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was seriously one of the intense experiences I'd had, in a work environment. Andy said, it seemed like Oz liked me, and that was good. My zine, San Jose Stylin', was the reason they were giving me a chance. I was a diehard BMX freestyler, if not a great rider. I had ridden with and interviewed the Golden Gate Park/Curb Dog/Skyway guys in the zine, Vander, Drob, Robert Peterson, and the others, and apparently seemed smart enough to take over the proofreading part of the job, from Don Toshach, who was leaving.

While Bob Osborn, Oz to most of us from that era, is known as the photographer/writer/publisher of the BMX mags. I just now realized it was Oz the lifelong photographer, that sized me up in an instant, with those piercing blue eyes. He not only raised R.L. and Windy Osborn, both legends in the BMX world, but he gave young Bob Haro a chance as a cartoonist. He gave Andy Jenkins, a Wyoming racer/art student, the editor's job a FREESTYLIN' because he liked a thank you note Andy wrote, after Andy won a bike in a contest. Oz hired, then later fired, Steve "Guy-B" Giberson. He picked Gork zine publisher and AFA employee, to editor of BMX Action. Oz hired Lew, after Andy and Lew became pen pals, and plucked Lew from Michigan. He hired me. When I didn't click really well in the office, I got laid off and he hired a punk kid, BMXer/skater named Spike Jonze, from Maryland. A few years later came Jeff Tremaine, as art director of Go. Those are just the names you know, the other staff members all rocked, as well. A few of us have talked about this list of people Bob Osborn plucked from obscurity over the years. The people on that list have had a serious influence on the BMX world, and most have done pretty cool things since.

Bob Osborn didn't give a shit about a resume'. I didn't have to take a written test to see if I was capable of learning to proofread two magazines in a couple weeks time, and get them out to the world with zero typos. Bob Osborn sized people up with the eye of a veteran photographer, and a weird life that had given him great intuition into people. He was a fireman when R.L. got into BMX, about 15 years earlier. All photos aside, and photos are his passion, his gift for picking people is one of his most amazing qualities. And then there are his amazing photographs, like the real world cowboys and Indians in the clip above.

One of my all time favorite photos of Oz is this one below, which means a lot to me, because it was on the cover of the first FREESTYLIN' magazine I got when I subscribed, the first issue of FREESTYLIN' I ever saw, issue #3.