Chapter: 6
The Fortune Seekers
Career Move
![1966 Morey Invitational winners, with checks (L to R) Skip Frye, Terry Jones, Bob Purvey](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/503da3ef00103a8753cceb5bbf18a4094129381d-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
1966 Morey Invitational winners, with checks (L to R) Skip Frye, Terry Jones, Bob Purvey
![Joyce Hoffman, 1966 Laguna Masters, Redondo Beach](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/829ed572e908c7418cbc2b6c340a28d9b86beb96-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Joyce Hoffman, 1966 Laguna Masters, Redondo Beach
![Corky Carroll. Photo: Jim Driver](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/73e92265b171d7f41821cd9c1959fe2711c4711c-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Corky Carroll. Photo: Jim Driver
![1968 Duke contest winner Mike Doyle. Photo: Ron Stoner](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/482c1b295b2914d8ff93fd7da16f1cf0f3a61862-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
1968 Duke contest winner Mike Doyle. Photo: Ron Stoner
![1968 Duke finalists. Photo: Grannis](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/2d8e422b6f7183f0de4fd661b59c7708bd0cb908-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
1968 Duke finalists. Photo: Grannis
Corky Carroll at age 18 put “professional surfer” on his 1965 tax return. Two years later, thanks to board royalties, product endorsements, and a bonus check from Hobie Surfboards for his appearances on The Tonight Show and What's My Line, Carroll earned something in the neighborhood of $40,000.
In early 1977, Southern California photographer Bill Delaney released Free Ride, and it instantly became the year’s runaway hit surf movie. The best part of the film was the knockout slow-motion camera work shot by Surfing staffer Dan Merkel, a bearded Santa Barbara hardass who cardio-trained by taping weights to his ankles and wrists and running through soft sand. Merkel figured out how to swim a...
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