Nothing, in my experience, can replace the feeling of riding a wave. Nothing! Billabong had it right with their tagline: “Only a surfer knows the feeling.”
If you surf, you know it’s true. If you don’t surf, you are left with imagining what it’s like to drop into a wall of water that’s traveled thousands of miles for the pleasure of your company. It’s like a gift from God, all wrapped up in pretty paper after being forged in violence.
Once the energy from that once mighty power source has evaporated into the sand, it is left for people like me to write about its short life. I do that as best I can, yet I, like everyone else who attempts to write about surfing, fail miserably.
That’s why most of my stories concern people rather than waves. These noble bums have made a lifetime of doing extraordinarily brave, comical and stupid things. Since the age of 13, when I spent my summer hitchhiking to Huntington Pier and playing poker for cigarettes and spare change, I have been collecting such stories.
Many of the people I write about are famous: Phil Edwards, Paul Strauch, Dale Velzy, Linda Benson and Margo Oberg have all lived lives that created the templates we all follow. Others, like “Tiny Brain” Thomas, who once drove his friend Bill Graham’s car into the ocean to create a surfing reef, are lesser known.
Many of my best stories concern friends like Chicky. “Chicky” was a hipster kid who rarely surfed, but who always depended upon the kindness of strangers. It was he who taught me the art of leaching money, saying, “Walk up to some old tourist lady and tell her your dad ran out of gas and could she spare a nickel or a dime to get you home?” The scam always yielded at least a buck, which in the early ‘60s translated into four gallons of gas, five hamburgers or pancakes for three at the Buzz Inn.
By now most of you realize that I have a new book. If not, I’ll shout a little louder. I HAVE A NEW BOOK! This volume of short stories is a retelling of my first book, “Good Things Love Water.” The difference this time is that it’s a coffee-table book, illustrated by surfing’s best photographers, including Jeff Divine, Art Brewer, Dan Merkle and Ron Stoner.
Today I dropped off a stack of books to Tim and Laura, the owners of Carlsbad Village Books. I think you’ll agree with me that this is the type of place worth spending your dry hours, browsing endless stories, purchasing a few of them, and having the least expensive good time you can legally have while indulging in fine coffee, juices or smoothies.
Located at 640 Grand Ave. in Carlsbad, Carlsbad Village Books, which was previously O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub, is family-owned and community-backed. Enter through the back Hobbit door, and discover a world waiting for you beyond your imagination.
I will be signing my newest book, “Good Things Love Water,” at Carlsbad Village Books on Sept. 24, 3-5 p.m. Hope to see you there, but please dry off first.
