The Young Sportsman's Guide series was published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, in New York, during the early- and mid-'60s. Alphabetically, the book titles range from The Young Sportsman's Guide to Archery to The Young Sportsman's Guide to Wrestling; other featured sports include all the obvious ones—baseball, soccer, tennis, etc— but also a few obscure choices, like fly tying and pocket billiards. A...
Drew Kampion's "Project Avalance" feature ran in the November 1980 issue of Surfing magazine. This version has been slightly edited. * * * SYNOPSIS On January 1, 1980, a manned canoe launched into two of the largest breaking waves ever ridden. Fortunately, photographers were present to record this incredible event. More fortunately still, everyone survived. The scene of the action: a rarely-ridd...
This article ran in the September 1964 issue of Surf Guide magazine. It has been edited and shortened. To get a better look at the guide pages, below, drag each image from EOS to your desktop. * * * The Buyers’ Guide was designed as a service both to the surfboard industry and to the customer who at some time will buy its products. As for the guide itself, it is mostly self-explanatory; those fe...
This article ran in the January 2000 issue of Australia's Surfing Life magazine. * * * As a kid I remember this little shop up a side road in Newport Beach. It had the ubiquitous seagrass floor matting, which was probably something to do with hippiedom, but actually seemed to go all right with the saltwater that poured from our noses as we sat around and talked about the waves we thought we'd ri...
This article ran in the December 1989 issue of Surfing magazine. * * * I used to think that if I died and went to heaven, it would look like a surf shop. And I'm sure I wasn't alone; surf shops have been hallowed ground since 1951, when irate city fathers rooted Dale Velzy out from beneath the Manhattan Beach Pier and forced him into the semi-legitimate business of selling surfboards under a roo...
This article ran in the December 28, 1967, issue of the Honolulu Advertiser; the version here has been slightly edited. Martha Sunn went on to win the 1967 Makaha International. * * * What is the first thing a lithesome 18-year-old bikini-clad beauty says after she has won her heat in the Makaha International Surfing Championships? She says, “What's to eat? I'm starved!" The hungry beach cutie...
Joan Didion's short review of Ride the Wild Surf ran in the November 1, 1964, issue of Vogue. * * * I have recently fallen under the spell of teen surfing movies, an enthusiasm I should probably try to pass off as sociological. In fact, they amuse me. Of the current crop, I am pleased to report that Ride the Wild Surf is a first-rate surfer, with Fabian, Tab Hunter, and Jim Mitchum bobbing about...
Curry Kirkpatrick's 7,000-word feature article ran in the February 22, 1971, issue of Sports Illustrated. This version has been slightly edited. * * * From a boy I wantoned with thy breakers—they to me Were a delight; and if the freshening sea Made them a terror—'twas a pleasing fear. Lord Byron Body surfers are not all drunken, longhaired, pothead jerks. Kevin Egan Bitchinoutasightunrealrigh...
This article originally ran in the July 1964 issue of Surf Guide. This version has been slightly edited. Candy Calhoun won the 1963 West Coast Surfing Surfing Championships and placed 3rd in the 1965 World Championships. In August 1962, Calhoun and Nancy Corfman became the first two women to bodysurf the Wedge. * * * The one time that I bodysurfed the Banzai Pipeline was in January of 1963. Most...
Dale Velzy is the first surfer Bruce Brown introduces in Slippery When Wet, Brown's 1958 debut movie. Del Cannon is second. The camera loves both, but for very different reasons. Dale, with his crooked smile and Boozefighter haircut and a merchant marine tattoo on his bicep, is the lovable hustler on his way to a near-career-killing beatdown by the IRS. Cannon is handsome and innocent and reserved...