Sam Reid was a New Jersey-born surfing pioneer who rode Malibu with Tom Blake in the 1920s, was befriended by the Kahanamoku brothers, and was the ranking lifeguard in Santa Cruz for decades. He is also recalled as surfing's first outspoken "it was better back then" curmudgeon, a role he seems to have picked up in the 1950s and carried with him until his death, at age 73, in 1978. Reid was a fair...
New Jersey's Sam Reid learned to surf in 1912, at age seven, after watching Duke Kahanamoku give a wave-riding demonstration in Atlantic City. Reid later moved to California, then Hawaii, surfing and socializing with Tom Blake and the Kahanamoku brothers. Blake and Reid are credited as the first surfers to ride Malibu, in 1927. Reid probably wasn't the first surfer to become disillusioned with ho...
“Goodbye Sunshine Superman” ran in the Winter 1994 issue of Surfer’s Journal. This version has been slightly shortened and edited. * * * There is great appeal, maybe even cosmic justice, in the idea that Jock Sutherland, master of critical positioning, rode deeper and cleaner than anybody during Our Holy Year of Gigantic Surf, 1969. Sutherland stamped his name on ’69 as hard as any surfer ever ...
“Ben,” a two-part profile written by Bill Hamilton and Gerry Lopez, ran in the September 1972 issue of SURFER. This version has been slightly edited and shortened. * * * He’s a big, heavy-set guy, weighing somewhere between 225 and 250 pounds. Amazingly enough, this isn't a detriment to his surfing, which is remarkably smooth and agile. Ben is an extremely versatile surfer, adapting well to any...
In August 2020, EOS posted "Jock's Night Trip," by Allan Weisbecker, an article that originally ran in a 1992 issue of Surfing. "Night Trip" is possibly the most 1969 story on the whole site, flitting about from the Apollo moonwalk to the Mets to Woodstock and beyond, then zeroing in on the North Shore for a well-told story about 1969 SURFER Poll winner Jock Sutherland surfing Waimea after dark wh...
And lo the story has been handed down through time, nigh on three score years now, one surf historian to the next—that Joey Cabell bunged himself out a world title in 1964 because he dropped in on other competitors like Tom Carroll on a six-shot espresso high. There was a new "sportsmanship" rule in place that year, designed to prevent, or at least reduce, drop-ins. Cabell ignored it. Midget Farre...
Midget Farrelly's tribute to Bobby Brown ran in the August 27, 1967, edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. A week earlier, Brown had been killed in a bar fight not far from his home in Cronulla. This version has been slightly edited and shortened. * * * Australian surfing suffered a great loss this week with the death of Sydney’s 22-year-old Bobby Brown. His name will not be quickly forgotten by...
Bobby Brown of Cronulla, a smooth-surfing teenage finalist in the 1964 world titles, was as quiet and unassuming as he was talented. In 1967, just after filming what would be a star turn in Paul Witzig's Hot Generation, Brown was killed in a bar fight. He was 20. The following quotes are from various sources, both print and digital. * * * Bobby was one of the most photogenic surfers in the world...
Kevin Naughton's article about the debut Women's International Surfing Association pro contest at Malibu, with photos by longtime travel partner Craig Peterson, ran in the December 1975 issue of SURFER. This version has been slightly edited and shortened. * * * Craig’s plan was ingenious, maybe even brilliant, but I still felt uneasy. In fact, at first I refused to go along with it. But when he ...
This article was published in the Spring 2003 issue of Surfer's Journal. This version has been slightly edited. * * * There’s a photo hanging on my wall that always attracts people’s attention. It’s not a particularly wonderful shot. It’s black and white, and barely in focus, and it’s aged so much over the years that the edges have turned a yellowish-brown. In the photo, I am walking down the be...