"Pat McGee The Lady is a Champ," by Susan Adams, ran in the October 1965 issue of Skateboarder magazine, when McGee was 19. This version has been slightly edited. 

How do you feel about girl skateboarders—are they accepted? After all, a lot of people say skateboarding is a boy’s sport.

Well, some people say girl skateboarders are just a novelty. I myself think  skateboarding is 100-percent just as much for girls as it is for boys.

Do you think that girls will ever show as well in contests as boys do—such as in the International Skateboard Championships?

Sure I do. If girls practice skateboarding as much as boys, they should do as well in the contests. It's not like in surfing. The average girl has never been able to out-surf a boy because a girl isn't in the water as much as a boy. But that's not true in skateboarding. In surfing a girl can't go shooting off to all the different surfing spots and get the all-around surfing ability—steep waves, fast waves, hollow waves and so on. But in skateboarding is kind of equal because there’s not a water temperature element and there's more of an equality.

In what skateboarding events do you think the girls will give the boys the most competition?

Well, in the speed events I think the boys will stay ahead because there's a certain amount of strength involved for push-offs and touchdowns. I know a boy, when he touches down, is going to get an extra second tacked onto his score and is going to push a lot harder than a girl would push—just because he's stronger. But in the slalom and trick events I think the girls will soon be equal to the boys. For example, I understand that Laurie Turner of Berkeley, California, turned in a hard-to-beat performance at the International Skateboard Championships.

Tell us a little bit about your skateboarding career.

I saw my first skateboard about two years ago during Easter vacation when I was at the Hollywood Teen Fair. I had been asked by a sporting goods store to give away a skateboard at a drawing every evening. One evening the kid who was supposed to do the skateboard demonstration didn't show up and they asked me to take his place. So in front of 1500 kids I did my first skateboard demonstration—it was just a kick turn, but skateboarding was new then and nobody else knew many tricks anyway. From there I went on the Hobie Skateboard Team and started traveling around the country and making appearances on television shows and at department stores—promoting safety in skateboarding.

How long did it take for you to become proficient at skateboarding?

My brother Jackie taught me. He's 14 now and he's also on the Hobie team. He and I practiced a lot together and when I entered a skateboard championship at the Santa Monica Surf Fair in 1964, I won first place in the girls' division. I also tied with Danny Bearer for first in the overall division, and you know how good he is. Both Danny and I got an offer to be on the Hobie team after that contest.

You're also quite a surfer, Pat, tell us about that.

I’ve been living in San Diego—which is a hotbed of surfing activity—since I was five years old, so I guess it just came naturally. I started surfing in the seventh grade—that’s almost eight years ago. My first spot was Tescadero Beach and later I hit a lot of the good spots in the San Diego area: Newport Street, North Beach and Ocean Beach, La Jolla Shores, and Windansea. When I was 16, I started traveling up and down the coast looking for surf and found some really good waves at places like Tamarack, Oceanside, Doheny, and County Line—which is one of my favorite spots along with Windansea. I like waves in the five-foot category—they’re the best.

Many surfers say that skateboarding helps their surfing. Do you think this is true?

I think skateboarding definitely helps the hotdog surfer—that’s a person who scoots around on his board a lot. I was never a hotdogger until after I skateboarded. I just never practiced walking the board or running up and hanging five or ten. But after skateboarding for a while, I got so I could move my feet pretty easily. Then, when I got back on a surfboard, I found out that I could move my feet a lot faster. So skateboarding kind of trained me for surfing. 

What helps the most—does skateboarding help your surfing or does surfing help your skateboarding?

Since I surfed before I started skateboarding, I’d say surfing helped me to learn how to ride a skateboard. The movements are the same and I had a certain amount of surfing coordination. Then I turned it right around and skateboarding helped me to move my feet faster on my surfboard. I also found that skateboard slalom helped me to learn how to waterski the first time out on a single ski. After skateboarding I could get right up waterskiing with no problems.

You've certainly been traveling around the country with your program of giving exhibitions and teaching skateboard safety. How do you like it?

I love to travel and I'm really grateful to the sport for giving me the opportunity. I’ve been all over the United States and really enjoyed seeing places like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York City, Cleveland, Green Bay, and even a funny little town called Sheboygan in Wisconsin. It's a pleasant town except for the mosquitos.

You’ve been a LIFE Magazine cover girl and also on several television shows. How does it feel being a TV star?

Well, I’m certainly not a star—although I really enjoyed showing off on a skateboard on TV. I taught Johnny Carson to ride a skateboard in just one lesson on his New York show. He has a lot of coordination and could really make a great skateboarder. I also appeared on a lot of local shows in the various towns I hit on my safety campaign tour.

What do your parents think about your skateboarding career?

My mother is a school teacher in San Diego, at Montgomery Junior High, and when I first started skateboarding I don’t think she really thought about it. To her, it was just like roller skates or bicycle riding. And she doesn’t think it’s dangerous. She knows that my brother and I have benefited a lot from traveling and have learned more than we could have from books. We've seen the United States first hand and have met some very interesting people—mayors of cities, heads of police departments, recreation directors and other officials. So my mom’s in favor of skateboarding 100-percent. 

Flying around on your tours you’ve seen a lot of skateboarders in all parts of the country. What’s your advice for them?

I’ve boiled it down to this: 1) Keep fit by practicing regularly. 2) Don’t be a showoff on a skateboard. 3) Ride skateboards defensively, keeping your eyes and ears open. 4) Don’t attempt to skate beyond your ability—always keep your board under control. Here's an extra thought—respect your skateboard and it will respect you. I'm often asked. "Well, isn’t the skateboard really dangerous?" That’s the attitude of someone who doesn’t know anything about skateboarding. I tell them that the skateboard is only as dangerous as the youngster who is riding it. If the skateboarder just uses a little common sense and a few rules of safety—there’s no danger at all.

Quite a while, although I can’t compete anymore—which is a shame because I’d really like to. Now that I teach skateboard safety, I’m considered a professional in the sport. In other words, I've accepted money for skateboarding—I do it for a living. So I'm just going to skateboard for my own pleasure because it really is a fun sport. But I want to keep on teaching, and if I can promote safety in skateboarders’ welfare, that's what I'd like to do as long as I can. Skateboarding is now a national sport and I’d like to see it treated as one.

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