beach, the

Geologically defined as a sandy intertidal buffer between land and sea, the beach has long represented a kind of relaxed pleasure zone for surfers and non-surfers alike. The sport of surfing is in some respects defined as much by behavior on the beach as by performance in the water. Most of the stories about Malibu in the '50s and early '60s, for example, have to do with the social interplay aroun...