WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers GRAB A RAIL- Tom Schaar, 8, from Malibu gets good air on the outside ramp at Skatelab in Simi Valley Tuesday afternoon. Skateboarding legends Tony Hawk and Lance Mountain, among others, will be at Skatelab on Saturday signing copies of "Stalefish: Skateboard Culture from the Rejects Who Made It." This Saturday at Skatelab in Simi Valley, author Sean Mortimer will be signing copies of his new book, "Stalefish: Skateboard Culture from the Rejects Who Made It."

He's bringing along a few famous friends, too.

Mortimer's companions will include legendary skateboarders Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Rodney Mullen, Kevin Harris, Steve Olson and Dave Hackett.

All of the skaters will be at Skatelab between 2 and 4 p.m. Fans can get autographs with a purchase of the book, or if they bring a previously purchased copy.

"I couldn't get everyone I knew to be in this book or else it would have been too big," Mortimer said. "I did feel it was very important to have the skaters that are in it to tell their whole story. Hopefully people will now see the whole evolution of skating and skaters."

Although Mortimer claims "Stalefish" is not a history novel, Mountain said an accurate representation of skateboarding's true roots is warranted.

"In the '90s, I thought magazines did a poor job of telling its readers where skating came from," Mountain said. "It was like the magazines were trying to rewrite (skateboarding) history themselves."

Tony Eggleston, a general manager at Skatelab, said he was thrilled when he heard Mortimer wanted to do the book signing at his workplace.

"If you are a well-respected author, you want to do a book signing at a place that is very respected," Eggleston said. "We're pretty well-known, and many parks have come and gone since we opened. It's not like he's signing his book at 'Joe's Shack.'"

Through the years, Skatelab has become a melting pot of skateboarding culture, or what Skatelab co-owner Todd Huber calls "an icon place."

Huber believes that while the atmosphere at Skatelab is often electric, its history and, in particular, the museum on the premises are the things that separate Skatelab from other skate parks throughout the world.

"The museum gives this place a little more legitimacy," Huber said.

"I actually had the Guinness Book of World Records call me up and offer me a record for biggest skateboarding collection if I could get an actual number of how much stuff I had. I'm not in there yet because I told them it would just take too long to count it all."

Skatelab's entrance includes the "Tunnel of Love," which consists of skateboards from as far back as the late 1950s. Hawk alone has donated approximately 400 boards that are on display at the venue.

Skatelab's museum is the only one of its kind in the nation, and it is recognized by California as a state museum.

"We've actually had tourists come by because it's on the state museum list," Huber said.

"I get a lot of skating stuff because all the stuff here isn't for sale. I keep all of it. Instead of people getting rid of their board, they just give it to me because they know where it will be. And it makes for a pretty good decoration of the place as well."

Mortimer's book paints a vivid picture of a time when skateboarding was far less mainstream.

"In the early days, you never had moms and dads dropping off their kids at skate parks," Mountain said. "For the first few years, I don't think my parents even knew I skated. I thought it was special that nobody seemed to like it."

Mortimer concurred.

"It was definitely frowned upon," Mortimer said. "It was an activity for rejects."

Times have changed, however, and these days skating is more popular than ever, so much so, in fact, that some locals now compete in the National High School Skateboard Association, where they face off in nonaffiliated high school events.

Once again, Mountain finds this situation a bit surreal.

"When I skated the jocks used to beat me up, and now they're skating themselves," Mountain said with a laugh. "Most skaters from my era didn't like sports at all. I secretly liked football, but that was about it."

In "Stalefish," skate icon Russ Howell says skateboarding in the 1950s didn't mix well with school, either.

"I never attended the sock-hop dances in junior high and high school," Howell is quoted as saying. "I just stayed outside on my skateboard and danced. People came out and watched."

No matter the progress- for better or for worse- some things about skateboarding may never change.

Twenty-two-year-old Simi Valley resident and Skatelab employee Donovan Strain finds it difficult to ride in public without running into some sort of trouble- and, yes, occasionally that means dealing with the law. Avoiding trouble is one of many reasons he likes Skatelab.

"Every day I skate on the streets, and most days I get kicked off them," Strain said. "Almost always I end up coming back to Skatelab. It seems to be almost flawless, and it offers you a peace of mind. It's skate-owned and skate-operated. The owners take care of everything the right way."

Mortimer's book also reflects on the early stages of punk rock and how it influenced the skating culture.

"I was into bands like the Clash and Buzzcocks a lot," Mountain said. "Punk rock and skating went hand-in-hand, and the sound made you feel energized.

"In a way, they were the same thing, because in the beginning everyone looked down on punk rock like they did with skating. In order to make things happen in punk rock, you had to do everything yourself- nobody was going to help you."

Last but not least, Mortimer's book raises a question for its readers: Is skateboarding a sport?

"No, it's not a sport," Strain said. "I think it's more of an art form and a way to express yourself. Sports have rules, judges and too many fine lines."

Eggleston disagrees.

"Of course it's a sport," Eggleston said. "Why are bowling and tennis sports? Because there is competition. If you're skating and somebody does an Ollie, you're going to want to find a way to do it better."

Huber said it's a combination of both.

"I once thought that people biking near the beach at Santa Monica weren't competing in a sport, and then I said, 'How can I think that when Lance Armstrong does as much as he does?'" Huber said.

"The cool thing about skating is you can do it alone or with a group of your best buddies, and either way it's still fun. Try playing pingpong, another sport, for five minutes and see how fun that is."