Godspeed, Michael Tomson.
Surfing icon Michael Tomson was put into an induced coma over a week ago after suffering a seizure at home. He has not come out of it and, yesterday, was taken off life-support.
Damn it all.
We hurried our memorials up because I wanted Michael to read them. I pictured him lounging in a hospital bed, morphine dripping, scrolling through the stories, the comments, with that Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face.
He had the best Cheshire cat grin.
I wanted him to feel his impact, his influence. Chuckle at the snarky asides, hot takes. Absorb the bookends of a life fabulously lived. To see the path he hacked through surfing’s manicured garden.
But we were too late.
Great historian Matt Warshaw wrote that Michael Tomson will be remembered in three parts: Fearlessly charging Pipeline, Gotcha and cocaine but I disagree.
He was, is, surfing’s only bonafide rock-n-roller and I called his great friend, one-time Gotcha designer, Jim Zapala to hope that Michael might have been able to read his headstone.
“No, man, I wish. He never came out of the coma. The doctors thought he would die last night but he’s still holding on, stubborn bastard. But it’s over. I knew this moment would come, he hasn’t been in the best physical shape for a while, but now that it’s actually here it…
…it’s hard. I was digging around, yesterday, for one of the first Gotcha logos I came up with. It had some cheesy 80s font but also had Michael charging Pipeline in the ‘O’ and the phrase ‘To hell with the consequences’ below. That was him…
…that was him.”
To hell with the consequences.
Michael Tomson will be remembered singularly for never, not ever, pulling a punch.
Stories of his generosity, his not-yet-fully appreciated writing, his fashion anarchy, his ability to Pipeline will certainly flow and I have no doubt, when the dust settles, he will be carved into surfing’s Mount Rushmore between Duke Kahanamoku and a pack of Laird Hamilton’s SuperFood Coffee Creamer but, until then, pour one out for an icon.
He was what we hope to be. What we are generally not.
All-fucking-in.
Godspeed, Michael Tomson.
Godspeed.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
The original Gotcha logo in lower case letters – well the “g” was Michael Tomson , his posture in that early Pipeline foto which fitted the shape of the g.
Michael Tomson… Eddie Van Halen. 1 – 2 punch to start a party.
Photo of the dinner table and Chas’ infatuation with the man suggest a threesome.
Will we have to wait for the next book for the details is the only question remaining to be answered.
Only drunks, kids, and Michael Tomson tell the truth.
Great job Chas. M.T. charged backdoor as hard as anyone from what I hear. And that team he assmebled for M.C.D. was best ever in surfing not even close.
assembled
assmebled is a great word!
gay sex reference to rough anal play…. ?
Rip Curl’s team shits on any other brand by the hugest of margins. Even Kelly was with RC briefly until he turned pro. And some guy called Curren?
TOW gets kind of overwhelmed with emotion and hubris so forgive his blubbering.
Hurleys from two years ago was the greatest
Awesome Chas. Unfortunately, the generous, good-hearted person Michael was is often overshadowed by salacious stories of hard partying and drug abuse. Im disappointed, to the point of being angry, that news of Michaels passing has not been noted on other popular surf web sites. He deserves to be remembered and celebrated. RIP MT. A true original.
As a fellow surf journalist i’d just like to say……..SHARK!
That’s what the drone said to Wilko!
the drone is also a surf journalist. saw him at the AGM.
I don’t think Tomson
Needed any surf writer
To help know his place
A truer haiku never written. But he needs a surf journalist to define.
you should be training right now so next time you run into Ashton you can fuck him up pretty quickly
Michael Tomson was Gotcha. We are generally Gotnot.
Otto, you’ve been holding up admirably lately under scorching fire from all lefty positions. Sun Tzu himself would be proud of your latest stratagem employing tact, good humor and never letting your adversaries get too far under your skin. Seems though that your comrades in arms have abandoned their posts. SSD is still on the battlefield but possibly wounded and laying low. LGR apparently is AWOL. Let’s see if I can draw him out: “AOC for President!”, “Pelosi is an American patriot!”, “Trump gargles covid balls!”. Hopefully he’ll post sump after today’s debate.
Finally I’ll leave you with a coupla quotes from that sensitive poet and worldly philosopher, Mike Tyson: “I’m going to gut you like a fish“, and, of course, one of my personal favorites: “I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children.”
cheers and God Bless America
Polls are not looking good, but I have confidence in the non college educated white middle American voters to come through.
What we need here c415 is some live commentary during the debates. I’d had my fill of articles about a coked-out Saffa who ran his empire off the road.
Fuck drugs, lost too many good friends. One in a million talents gone. Live thread for the last pres debate hope it continues.
There was a live thread for the Donald last week
shoots, I musta missed it. I was flyfishing for steelhead near Chas’s old stomp in Oregon.
This debate now is ridiculous
The mod constantly telling them to shutup
It’s a debate you fuken dumb fuk.
Ha! Did you ever see Tyson’s HBO Special “Undisputed Truth”?
It’s an amazing doc, with Tyson doing a stage talk to a crowd going over his life story with a screen in the background for certain effect placed here and there.
I love the when he first realizes he had fighting skills. He loved pigeons from a young age. When he was like 10, some bigger kid like 15 took one of pigeons and rippeds its head off right in front of Mike. That’s when Mike unleashed the fury and whipped that bigger kid’s ass. Tyson was fighting “smokers” at 12 years old bearing up grown men, beating them real bad. He’s also got a great sense of humor. It’s like the multiplier effect of a sniper.
Sometimes it feels like I’m getting my pigeon’s head ripped off right in front of me here.
Grab his book, it’s good.
Love the podcast.
Tyson and Mitch Green in the street.. would have been the one I would have liked to have been at.
I will. Thx for the heads up on that.
I was working in Charlestown in Boston on some condos and this cheeky electrician Irish guy kept coming in with cuts on his face on Mondays. I said to myself, this guy must be shooting his mouth off in the pub.
Walked into the porta loo one day and saw an ad for the guy, he was fighting for the middle weight championship,
Stevie Collins
Ah the Celtic Warrior, took out Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, what a legend!
Pretty sure he had to stop because of head problems.
Asked him what he does after a win.
Said he cooks a turkey and gets on the drink for about 3 days.
I remember him looking for a fight with Roy Jones Jr, who was in his prime, Jones didn’t take the fight and so Collins retired. He lives in England now on a country estate he owns. Boy done good. Hope your apprentice gave Marky Mark a beat done!
He worked as muscle for a bookie and loved to fight. I could push his buttons,and when he would punch me,it fucking hurt.
Was when they were playing basketball at the park. He never gave anybody much credit, but admitted Mark put up a good fight.
Gatti-Ward rd 9.
I had one apprentice fight Ward and lose in half a minute.
Had another apprentice who fought Whalberg, who played Ward.
I did see that HBO special. Showtime also had a really good special on Tyson where he mostly spoke directly and very candidly to the camera about his life and his close relationship with Cus D’Amato. Tyson has a funny type of charisma that you just can’t help liking. During his prime in the ring his ferocity was mind boggling.
Here’s another of his gems:
“I don’t understand why people want to get rid of pigeons. They don’t bother no one”
I hope Conor McGregor pulls the head off the wrong pigeon one of these days, cunt needs a serious smack down
Good on ya Chas. Someone needs to keep the record straight.
He deserves!
In that pic–are you thinking of taking out the woman so you can spend the night with Michael, screaming “Gotcha!”?
They would pretend to be a 3 some and forget that she was there quickly….
Chas, come clean. How much coke after dinner, do you remember seeing the woman naked, has it caused challenges to your marriage?