In which, among other things, Mark Occhilupo admits
his largest regret.
Gerard Butler stood at the urinal pissing a vigorous
stream. He had been holding it in all the way down the red
carpet, those infernal camera flashes flashing. Through the
interviews. Past empty conversations with drones. Fame was a heavy
burden. Heaviest, maybe, on his bladder.
But, for the moment, he was free and his flow was strong. He
looked to his left and it was empty. And he looked to his right.
There, he saw a handsome young man with a chestnut brown face and
lips as soft as pillows.
“You in the biz?” he asked.
“No, I’m just Sterling,” the young man responded. “Abby’s
brother.”
Gerard squinted his eyes, recognizing certain features shared by
his most recent co-star Abby, or Abigail, Spencer. “I see it,” he
confirmed, before continuing, “Do you know who Rob Lowe is? Damn
it. You look just like Rob Lowe…”
The young man said nothing. Gerard kept looking at him, sighed
his approval, then zipped up and waltzed into the night feeling
like a new man.
Sterling Spencer also left, feeling very good but not because he
had a satisfying micturition. He had, in fact, been unable to
perform while Gerard Butler stared directly into his face. He felt
very good because he was not Rob Lowe. He was, rather, what Rob
Lowe dreamed of being. A professional surfer and he knew he was on
the brink of his own total fame.
Surf has, for the past sixty years, held a unique place in
America’s cultural mythology. It represents vitality, youth, sun,
perfection in a way nothing else quite does. Tom Wolfe wrote it
better, though, in his essay about La Jolla called The Pump House
Gang. “Surf is yip yip yow and the bronzed surfer is a-oooooga
a-oooooga honk honk zow!”
And even though surf is being represented everywhere these days,
from Chanel to Mazda to Visa to the Point Break remake and even
though everyone, including Rob Lowe, wants to be a surfer, surf’s
true stars are unknown outside of the cloister. Kelly Slater would
maybe get a second glance on the street but that is mostly because
he dated Pamela Anderson. And Gisele Bundchen. And Cameron
Diaz.
Sterling was born knowing that even though everyone wants to be
a surfer, to become truly famous, as a surfer, is a very difficult
nut. He knew because his father, Yancy III, is a legend in surf
circles. Sometimes called “The Duke of Gulf” and other times the
“Godfather of East Coast Surfing,” Yancy III brought the sport of
kings to Floridian rednecks. A statue has been erected in his honor
in the town of Pensacola. But outside, Yancy’s legend means
nothing. Initially, Sterling didn’t care. He looked up to his dad
and wanted to be a surfer just like him.
He had the skill and the inimitable style born of great
genetics. He danced on waves. His turns were almost perfect and his
airs were second to none. The people on the beach went crazy
anytime Sterling paddled out. They just couldn’t get enough.
He started competing on the east coast National Scholastic Surf
Association tour when he was very young. The E.C. NSSAs are, in
many regards, more difficult than surfing’s World Championship Tour
where Kelly Slater has won twelve titles, smashing a field of
drunks and heroin addicts. The competition is stiffer in the NSSAs
and the stakes higher. Sterling shrugged off the pressure and
surfed better than anyone, eventually winning four titles in a row.
He was sponsored by surfwear manufacturer Billabong and laughing
all the way to the bank. He was getting paid hundreds of thousands
of dollars to float in the ocean. Then he laughed at Billabong and
traded them in for Rusty.
One night, though, fate intervened in the form of a centaur.
Sterling says it was not dreaming. He says he was wide awake when
he walked outside the family home to the woods. There, a half man,
half horse approached him and said, “You will never be famous.”
Sterling responded, “What? I’m four time NSSA champion. I’m
sponsored by Billabong and someday Rusty.” but the centaur was
unimpressed. He shook his head and said, “No. You will never be
famous.” Sterling decided, then and there, to prove him wrong.
His older sister, Abby, had already taken a more direct route to
fame via Hollywood. She has been lauded for roles in Mad Men, This
Means War, Rectify, Oz the Great and Powerful and alongside Gerard
Butler in Chasing Mavericks. Sterling, though, decided to get
famous as a surfer. He quit competing knowing that anyone outside
of the surf world could not care less about titles and started a
blog showcasing his unique ability, soon winning Surfer Magazine’s
Battle of the Blogs. He became a big swell daredevil, snagging one
of the largest waves ever ridden in the world off the coast of
Alabama. He was interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. And he just
finished filming his biopic titled “Gold.” James Franco recently
caught a private screening and told Sterling, “I’m speechless. I’ve
never seen anything this good in my entire life.” They subsequently
became best friends.
Fame, real fame, is now within his grasp. Sterling is fairly
nonchalant about it though, saying, “Surfing and being number one
are really easy for me.” The ease can be seen in this film
where a young Sterling finds his Occy. The greatest surf film of
all time? Probably.
Flashback Boomerang from
SterlingSpencer on
Vimeo.
