Few bikers have done more to keep traditions alive than Samantha Morgan. In 2006 the New York Times did a story on her. The following is excerpted from that story.
ON a sultry night in Florida 32 years ago, 14-year-old Samantha Morgan sat, entranced, inside a roaring and heaving motordrome, looking down on a man on a motorcycle as he rode effortlessly around in circles, perpendicular to the floor at 60 miles an hour, laughing all the while.
“I saw this guy sideways on the wall, and it was like somebody slapped me,” she said. “It was the coolest thing I ever saw.” When the show was over, she walked up to the owner, Sonny Pelaquin, and asked, “Can girls do this?”
Indeed they could, and at 46 the girl is still doing it, sometimes 13 times a day, on what is known as the Wall of Death. “She’s the best there is,” said Sandra Donmoyer, 27, who learned to ride the Wall from Ms. Morgan. “I’ve never seen a trick rider like her. She’s amazing.”
If you never watched Sam ride the wall, then you truly missed a part of biker lore, the likes of which we're not likely to see again in our lifetimes.
Sam passed away April 24th at the age of 53 in her West Palm Beach farm due to complications from the numerous back injuries and broken bones she had sustained in her long illustrious career.
She is missed every day by the legions of fans and friends who knew her best.