"The price of a membership is $1 million. It costs
$85,000 per year after that."
History is a real bastard and a special bastard
when viewed from the gimlet eyed high pass of our future, where we,
of course, dwell. Everything clear and pristine. Our signals of
virtue shine in the sky like gorgeous beacons, unfettered,
unchained, clear and pristine.
A fine thing that we are so good.
Speaking of, our World Surf League released a statement this
just passed International Surfing Day which declared “Surfing is
for everyone” and committed to “Build a diverse and inclusive work
environment, advancing equality, cultivating where everyone feels
welcome.”
etc.
Contributions have been pledged to the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People and continued support of the
Creative Futures Collective where “We believe someone’s current
circumstance shouldn’t dictate their future.”
etc.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqGXiln-_r/
A very fine thing.
As you well know, publishing billionaire and co-Waterperson of
the Year Dirk Ziff purchased the Association of Surfing
Professionals for free in 2013, or thereabouts, rebranding it World
Surf League in 2015.
The League has had four CEOs since, Dirk Ziff himself as acting
CEO in 2017 while winning his co-Waterperson acclaim.
The very same Dirk Ziff, you may not know as well, also co-owns
Cherokee
Plantation, a “Spanish-moss draped monument to
selective southern hospitality” in South Carolina that Forbes also
calls “the most expensive–and the snootiest–private
club in America.”
Cherokee Plantation was built in 1690 as part of a land grant to
Joseph Blake, who cultivated rice amongst other things. His son
Daniel inherited the property and, “as slave owners go” was
considered “a pretty swell guy” who “despised affectation and
looked with perfect contempt upon all snobbery.”
He built a church on his property, enjoyed by his 559 slaves, as
well as providing clothing and moderate working hours.
The plantation was badly damaged during the Civil War but
rehabilitated, changed hands a few times, and today co-belongs to
co-Waterperson Dirk Ziff.
Forbes continues:
The price of a membership is $1 million. It costs $85,000
per year after that. Some of what Cherokee offers is familiar
country club stuff, such as horseback riding, tennis, fishing and
golf. But at Cherokee, there’s no such thing as a tee time. Golfers
on the 18-hole Scottish links may find their only company is an
alligator that has lumbered onto the lawn from the Combahee River.
And members who hunt quail can use a $100,000 Purdey house gun and
enjoy an outdoor banquet–complete with tablecloths and candelabra.
In the evening, members and guests are invited to pluck a stogie
from the walk-in humidor in the grand plantation house. When guests
climb into bed, they find a flannel-covered hot water bottle tucked
between the sheets, even in summer.
A very, very fine thing and it must be assumed that
contributions are equally pledged to the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People and Creative Futures
Collective.
Comment has been requested from his World Surf League.
More as the story develops.
