Jim Murray's article on Margo Oberg ran in the Los Angeles Times in early November 1978 * * * In 1964, in a contest for 61 surfers 12 years old and under, Margo Godfrey of La Jolla, Calif., won easily. No big deal Except she was the only girl in it. And she was barely 11 at the time. Margo didn't win a world championship till she was a ripe old 15. She's won six since, and it might have been mo...
This article ran in the November 26 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, two days after the 1974 Smirnoff Pro prelims were held. The Smirnoff that year, for the first time, had included female pros along with the male pros; each of the prelim heats had a woman surfer, and the one with the highest point total for the heat was awarded $1,000. * * * The six girls who failed to advance to the semifinal...
"The Endless Summer Turns Golden, by Richard Johnston, ran in the Dec 6, 1976, issue of Sports Illustrated * * * In the Hawaiian language, the word hui (pronounced “hooey”) means a club, a company, a society, a corporation, a partnership, or even—to stretch it a little—a conspiracy. Last week, Hawaii’s surfers were leaning toward the last definition. Once again, as four times before in the eight...
Tom Morey wrote his burials wishes in 2016. Moon and Sol, mentioned below, are Morey's sons. * * * I wish to be buried in strict accordance with Baha'i Teachings. Most certainly NOT CREMATED, a shock to the soul. Specifically, not my soul, regarded as though it were an appendage (like say a gizzard). Rather THE soul as in the all-pervasive omnipotent ME which developed in part as the character ...
"Jazz Man: Tom Morey: the Man Who Gave Waves to the World," by Steve Barilotti, ran in the April 1996 issue of SURFER Magazine. This version has been slightly shortened and edited. * * * OCTOBER 1993 So we’re huddled under this overpass out in the middle of the Godforsaken desert west of Yuma somewhere, waiting out a hellacious thunderstorm that has Tom Morey absolutely freaked. The rain hits th...
Dru Harrison's "SURFER Tips" article on speed surfing ran in the May 1969 issue of SURFER Magazine. "Speed surfing" was invented by Joey Cabell a year or so earlier, the result of Cabell trying to bring his downhill skiing experience to bear on his wave-riding. The concept was squishy at best, and never caught on, but in 1969 it was a hot topic, and Harrison was Cabell's #1 speed surfing acolyte. ...
Reno Abellira's article about his 1974 Smirnoff Pro win originally ran in the March 1975 issue of Surfer. This version has been slightly edited. * * * The kona weather finally broke. A gnarly northeast swell was coming in with an exaggerated push to it. Totally flushing through the outside peaks at Sunset, the waves would then reform and double up on the notorious inside wall, quick-forming into...
Excerpted from "Boy You Gotta Carry That Weight," by Drew Kampion, which ran in the March 1970 issue of SURFER. Kampion's article reported on the 1969 Smirnoff Pro-Am and the 1969 Santa Cruz Big-Wave Contest; Johnny Fain, one of the older competitors, did not place in the former and was 4th in the latter. * * * Johnny driving north in his paneled Ford Falcon wagon. Two Formula Model boards in ba...
“A Gomes Family Saga,” by Bob Cooper, ran in the August 2012 issue of Surfer’s Journal. This version has been shortened and slightly edited. * * * Once again, I direct our focus to the Velzy and Jacobs shop on the border of Venice and Playa del Rey, where the usual suspects from South Bay and Malibu merged to catch up on happenings in the SoCal wave-riding culture. V and J’s unique feature was t...
"Why Gays Don't Surf . . . Or Do They?" ran in the Fall 1979 issue of H20, a Los Angeles based surf-art-culture magazine. Writer RC Pennie was a UCLA grad student in Sociology. The version below has been slightly edited. * * * Clustered together like chickens in a barnyard coop, the half-naked, sun-bronzed group of young men constantly eye the scene and continually evaluate the competition. High...