Howell was born in September 1949 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but moved with his family to Long Beach, California when he was nine months old.
[1] From there, Howell studied physical education at California State University, Long Beach, eventually earning a Bachelor's degree in 1979.
Encouraged by his students to try competing in a skate contest, he enrolled as a competitor in the 1975 Dyno Championships in Huntington Beach Mall.
Most notably, he won the senior men's freestyle event at the 1975 Bahne/Cadillac National Skateboard Championships in Del Mar, California, the same competition that helped propel the Z-Boys to notoriety.
"[12] Regarding his beliefs, Howell said, "I was a physical-education major, and I wanted to help integrate skateboarding into public school athletics and into a place where the International Olympic Committee would consider it a sport.