Fred Van Dyke's article ran in the April 1, 1968, issue of LIFE Australia magazine. The magazine cover featured an action photo taken at Waimea Bay, with the tag line reading, "The Peril of Surf—A Veteran Surfer Asks: Are Surfers Really Sick?" * * * Surfing is what's happening. There's nothing else for me. On a red-hot, glassy day of surf I don't care who stands in my way. I will surf. Maybe...
Phil Jarratt's coverage of the 1977 Stubbies Classic originally ran in The Wave Game: An Inside Look at Professional Surfing, published in 1977. This version has been slightly edited. * * * Early in 1976, Edward Fletcher & Co. Pty Ltd, a Brisbane-based clothing company, threw a party at a Gold Coast hotel and announced plans for the sponsorship of a professional surfing contest the following...
"Surf Riding in a Canoe" was the top story on the Special Features section of the August 10, 1913, edition of the Virginian-Pilot. This version has been slightly edtied * * * The sport of surf riding on a plank has for many years been one of the chief attractions to visitors in Honolulu. The natives enjoyed the pastime for years before Uncle Sam threw his protecting arm over the island and b...
Phyllis Walsh was born to a wealthy Philadelphia banking family in 1897. She was outgoing and athletic and like all East Coast elites from the period, she spent her summers at the shore—in Walsh's case, that meant Ventnor City, three miles down the coast from Atlantic City. Walsh attended private schools in New England, rode horses, hunted foxes, socialized with Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. She...
"The Story of Philly and Joey," Alicia King's feature on Phyllis O'Donell and Josette Lagardere, ran in Surfing World #425, published in 2025. This version has been slightly edited. * * * Phyllis O’Donell is standing on the sand at Huntington Beach after a surf, stark naked. Stripping off her bathing suit as the fog rolls in, she’s taking her sweet time, wandering her bare bum around before c...
Matt Warshaw interviewed surfers in 1989 for "What Is It About Surfing and Music?" which ran in the August 1989 issue of SURFER. * * * SHAUN TOMSON FIRST ALBUM BOUGHT: Let it Be, The Beatles. BEST LIVE SHOW: Sting, Dream of the Blue Turtles tour, 1986. BEST LOVE SONG: "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," Crosby, Stills & Nash. CAN YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT? No, but I'd love to be able to play piano. ...
"Surf Riding in Canoes Society Fad of Newport," unattributed, ran in the August 28, 1908 edition of the Los Angeles Evening News. * * * One of the great sports at Newport this season, of which the outside world hears nothing, is surf riding in canoes. This is a feature of the fun in which the exclusive set indulges on the private beach at the foot of Bellevue Avenue, where, free from public ...
This unattributed article ran on the front page of the Southwest Wave, a twice-weekly Los Angeles-area newspaper. This version has been slightly edited. * * * The chances are that you will not stumble onto Rocky Point cove at Palos Verdes by accident. It is reached only by a rough auto trail which travels a precarious half-mile on a cliff above the beach. But if, some Sunday afternoon, you s...
Surf historian Malcolm Gault-Williams wrote about the Palos Verdes Surfing Club in his "Legendary Surfers" series of articles, from in the 1990s and early 2000s. "Doc," below, is surf photographer and PVSC cofounder John "Doc" Ball. This version has been slightly edited. * * * Doc graduated from the USC Dental College in 1933. In March 1934, he opened an office on South Vermont Avenue, in Los...
The Santa Barbara County Surf Club was formed in 1960, and about two years later the club made an agreement with Clinton Hollister whereby club members would have exclusive access to ride the inconsistent but beautiful waves at the Hollister Ranch. The SBCSC rules and by-laws were created at that time. The version below is likely from two or three years later, as the original annual dues were $25 ...