One of surfing's tall tales dies of apparent heart attack.
I went looking for famous surfer turned dropout Dave Eggers once on the Salton Sea. It is a strange world out there in the middle of California’s desert. A “sea” was formed, or rather re-formed, accidentally in 1905 when engineers were attempting to irrigate the area for farming. It was then thought to be a wonder and many people built vacation homes.
Today, the water has resided and toxic dust delivers cancer to the few inhabitants who think that levels will rise again and they will be sitting on primo waterfront property. Dave worked here, somewhere, I was told in a bar. I went looking but never found him and today, at 45, he is dead of an apparent heart attack.
Much has been made of his prodigious rise as a young surfer, his fall into drugs and later diagnosed schizophrenia. Matt Warshaw wrote the most beautiful eulogy today, or maybe just the most fitting. As a younger man I heard the tale of Dave Eggers and how he fell into drugs then disappeared. For some reason I thought he came back as Dave Eggers the author and thought, “What a brilliant story. Surf star to drug addict to best-seller.” It’s too bad that his story, and most stories like his, generally end in the dumps. Fucking drugs.
David Eggers from ENCYCLOPEDIA of SURFING videos on Vimeo.
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For a bit I thought this was regarding the verbose, self-congratulatory, and utterly bland author of the same name.
A Gutwrenching Work From a Stammering Penis.
…you didn’t like What is the What? The fabulous story of Mr Valentino Achak Deng?
Zeitoun was pretty good too.
After reading his first one, I vowed never to read another. If only I could unread the one I had…
McSweeny’s, though.