Working for a living
I was walking through one of those discount department stores when I noticed that William Finnegan’s book, “Barbarian Days,” was on sale. A crowd had...
Waterspot
Pure Hank: Farewell to a shaping legend
“Surfing lost a legend in Hank Byzak.” — Joel Tudor, three-time Longboard World Surfing Champion In the mid-1970s, there was a surf shop standing where...
Two kids on the block
I can still recall the summer day when I met the gremmie. He had spiky hair and was tanned, fit, talkative and very funny. He...
Honoring the fallen and the standing
There’s a joke about a rich man who dies and goes to heaven, only to find that his celestial home is made of inferior materials...
In the shadow of the pier
By the summer of 1962, I spent most weekends hitchhiking from Montebello to Huntington Beach Pier with my best friend, Chicky. As often as not,...
The long goodbye
I don’t know when I first realized I had more dead friends than living ones. That hurts, you know. If you don’t know, you will....
Surfing’s little brother grows up
When I began skateboarding in 1962, it was merely a way to practice surfing. With crude chunks of 2×4 and metal roller skates nailed to...
Hawaiian royalty rides again
I’ve spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz, much of it sleeping on Bob Pearson’s floor. For years, Bob’s house, perched just above Stockton...
The Paul Strauch Five
It was in my first few years of surfing that I saw his photo in a Surfer Magazine Jacob’s Surfboards ad. The surfer, Hawaiian-raised Paul...
The two primes of Dale Dobson
Dale Dobson is among the greatest athletes of our time. Any surfer who ever saw him ride during his two primes: the first lasting over...
Surfing’s regress
I was locked into the I-5 parking lot this morning, observing fine new cars operated by frustrated old drivers. The freeway is again under construction,...
Seek these hidden treasures while you can
Miracles Café, Longboard Grotto and Sunshine Gardens Nursery are long gone, nearly forgotten dreams. Now, so is Captain Keno’s. On the endangered list in our...
The Don of Encinitas
“Cliche as it sounds, we will never see the likes of Don Hansen and his kind again, unfortunately.” — EOS Editor, Matt Warshaw The...
Can surfing save your soul?
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,...
In Encinitas surf culture, illness can become stylish
It’s like Christmas and summer arrived at the same time as the swell jumped along with the thermometer last week. The water also seemed to...