Sit at the feet of the master.
Southern California’s surfers are known for many things including quick tempers, strong opinions and bubbling resentment. They are not known for overwhelming literacy and so, as you can imagine, social scientists became extremely baffled when, on Wednesday morning, caravans of Sprinter vans began making their way from all points south of Santa Barbara to San Diego for today’s Writer’s Symposium by the Sea.
Hosted at Point Loma University, the yearly event promises “to inspire readers and writers alike, featuring evocative conversations with exemplary writers from various genres, backgrounds, and perspectives.”
And this year’s guest?
One William Finnegan.
The author of Barbarian Days, who calls New York home, will travel in to share about the one book every surfer has at least attempted to read. Finnegan, himself, calls the work “maybe the long story of trying to become an adult,” and told the local public radio affiliate, “I’ve had this kind of bipolar life and surfing is the North Pole of irresponsibility. But then there’s the other impulse to be a responsible citizen, to contribute — and in my case — as a writer, to have opinions and inform my readers. So does that tension — that tug of war — I think all through the book.”
Will you go and sit at the master’s feet?
Gather pearls of wisdom?
Or, if you prefer, you can stay home and ready yourself for another twist in the story of two illicit lovers who just so happened to travel to Mexico.
Win/Win.
Hippy you are spot on!
I read it ! He talks over and over about not claiming a wave THE WHOLE BOOK IS A CLAIM! I was the first no one was out cleanest ever ! What a Cumt
Writing school graduate🙌🏻I gifted it to a guy that likes books and thinks he surfs
I gave it away too.
Just like Peter Mc Guire’s book.
Oh,yeah.On the subject of Baker,he drove a brand new Range Rover across the desert to play with Fela Kuti.
Here’s one of his kids.
This is it.
https://youtu.be/mFSRCG4DrmI
So the burning question is, what’s the South Pole of irresponsibility?
Answers on a postcard, please.
Foiling? Sup? Longboard at Byron with no leash?
Last thing I want to read about after surfing is surfing.
Ginger Baker’s autobiography,however .
Mint.
Ginger: “fuck off~”
I could only skim read that tripe.
should this be read objectively or subjectively? https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx….
Jen?
Island of the Blue Dolphins/
1/3 Charity work. Kissin babies. Neighbor kid selling subscriptions…Give me six ???…
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx….
You liked it, eh?
Kirra does make good reading.
Fast forward to SF. Or Greece. Or South Pacific.
what app?
What ever happened to that book the guy was writing with the story about Andy Irons? Obviously the industry blacklisted him but if there’s one book i’d like to read it’s that one. I think it’s still listed on Amazon as “forthcoming”.
how we see surf-writers https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
That speaks volumes for what Charles has become. Past trauma explains it all.
Maybe PTSD from the Priests during alter boy practice?
Exactly
loopin’ the pomp & ceremonies alone…we did latin! and survived left-handedness…guilt and original sin. blow me!
Never read it
This one’s interesting though
Peter Troy’s diary and letters home from 1963 onwards https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
That might be good. Didn’t he discover Nias?
I don’t think he discovered it but was an early visitor.
I landed on Nias and saw the sign for Lagundri….. beside myself that we weren’t going that direction. So close, so far.
What in the holy hell were you doing at Gunung Shitholee if you weren’t going to Lagundri? Abhorrent place otherwise.
Charter was waiting at the northern harbor for us. Exact oppo direction.
Below sea level draining Rincon was our destination. Unfuckingbelievable how good. Lefts were fun too, but the point was next level and empty.
Sim and Banyaks go off under the right conditions. I assume you are talking about the mushy left that’s actually a draining right.
Treasures
Yeah, exactly. Place hasn’t really been a secret for 30 years. Call it what you will, it used to be Lolok before everyone started pretending it was secret, starting with Scuzz. Ha!
don’t care, it got so good.
RIP Suzuki.
I think that’s true. He also owned an island on the sunny coast (the one off Mooloolaba) and started the first Bells contest.
Met that guy on the Sunshine Coast around 93. Interesting guy, trippy as hell. Bought a Gath helmet from him at his shop for Tahiti. He had some stories.
Fantastic read. One of the very few surfing books worth reading. That guy led an amazing life. Went to Europe by boat in 1963 “saw this band called the Beatles”, entered the European surf titles and won it, so got a gig to the first world titles in Peru (despite being Aussie), hitch hiked from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska and “introduced” surfing to Brasil (there is a memorial to him at Arpoador beach in Rio – but he borrowed a board from some French guy on the beach who was the son of a diplomat). In the book it brushes over his exploits in Rio, but in an old interview he said how the President of Brasil heard about this guy surfing, this was when Rio was the capital, and sent his limo down to pick him up at the beach, filled with his own private hookers.
I met him in Noosa at a book signing, he was a lovely guy and strangely enough was known in philatelic circles for having one of the best stamp collections in the world, and apparently Queen Elizabeth II had remarked how good his collection of stamps from Papua New Guinea was.
Got half way through it..
Bookish daughter finished it. Mate wants to give it back but hasn’t finished it.
I got 4 copies of his book one year for Christmas as a gift from relatives. I re-gifted all of them to my friends through out the year.
as a self-trained social & enviro scientist, i spent 30 years writing technical papers that nobody ever read…so i usually gave an oral (no puns, please) summary to many savvy business people and corporations. I had to transform my low-grade, teen-age surf spiel into
intelligibleintelligible high risk summaries…reading from my own cue cards and research (many relying on accredited laboratory testing: soil, water, air…)
ĭn-tĕl′ĭ-jə-bəl
adjective
Capable of being understood.
Capable of being apprehended by the intellect alone.
capable of being understood; clear to the mind…
Upon retirement, a couple good buddies within weeks of each other pulled the plug and jumped off a step stool (& a ladder).
Perspective changed and I went into a long
FinneganHST-style of gonzo…very cathartic, saracastic; writer as center of the story.Thought I had sarcasm wired…until somehow I found Paradise and Senor Smith’s blog.
The comments section riveted me and I followed closely without say a word. Stickman was my mentor. One word quips that tossed the coin on edgy, but seriously funny. Over time, I started getting the jist of Grit headlines: TOTAL SARCASM!
Chas & Associates score 10 pointers > Finnegan’s underhand lobs from the free throw line? yawn!
The line-up of BG contributors? “We don’t need no education…” But we do like throwing bricks at the wall.
What I’d give to read a Dane’s sushi technical report!
a lighter read compared to war reporting…but just as gnarly! errors & omissions & bodily injury insurance still needed for both journalists & scientists. also cross t’s and dot i’s and wear protective equipment!
Tom Anderson from little old Wales wrote some good and amusing surf books! Chasing Dean and Grey Skies, Grey Waves. Barbarian Days could have done with a little humor!
I think you’re thinking of Bill Funnegan
So, just to clarify, Chas is calling most of us illiterate. Well if that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black I don’t know what is.
If that aren’t the pot calling the kettle black*