Eddie winner and blue collar hero Luke Shepardson takes one step closer to Hollywood fame as GQ publishes exhaustive profile!

Popcorn ready.

Five, or such, months ago, surfer hearts around the world were warmed all toasty when The Eddie was won by a working lifeguard. Surfing’s most prestigious contest had not run in eight years at the hallowed Waimea Bay and fans were dying for it, breaking into lusty sobs when it was greenlit, crowding around various iPhone and MacBooks or, if lucky, wedging their automobiles into Kamehameha gridlock.

There were great storylines even before the hooter sounded, like former Eddie champ Kelly Slater gifting his slot to local standout Chris Owens in an act of blazing love, and there were phenomenal performances after the hooter sounded as the waves lived up to expectation. A veritable who’s who paddling their iconic guns, pitching themselves into history.

And yet the most unlikely hero of all emerged victorious at the end of the day.

“In building twenty-to-thirty-foot surf, Luke Shepardson, twenty-seven, who started the morning by clocking in to his gig as a North Shore lifeguard, took a few hours off work and by day’s end had beaten the most stacked field in the event’s history,” Derek Rielly wrote in the near aftermath. Apart from defending champ John John Florence, who finished second, Shepardson outsurfed big-wave world champs Makua Rothman and Billy Kemper, both surprise competitors after suffering injuries at the Backdoor Shootout, Kai Lenny, Zeke Lau, Grant Baker, Ross Clarke-Jones and so on.

A blue collar hero was born.

Shepardson did the rounds in the following weeks, appearing on surf-centric podcasts and what not, and then surf fans’ attention turned to other matters. The World Surf League securing a ladder sponsorship, for example.

The World Surf League CEO turning abusive, lashing out then disappearing.

The aforementioned Kelly Slater flaunting World Surf League rules and wearing a Shark Watch instead of the mandated Apple one (more soon).

But cream always rises and our hero has made a triumphant return in the form of an exhaustive GQ profile out just hours ago. Casual Luke Rides the Big Wave” is a multi-thousand word piece that explores not only the historic day but what led up to it. Shepardson working as an electrician in jail to support a small family, for example. His highs and lows.

It is essential reading but also an important step on the major motion picture about his life. I’d imagine Hollywood executives are waking up this morning, rubbing cocaine out of their eyes and perusing the wire for material. What could be better than Luke Shepardson?

Not much.

Except the story of a young water-fearing Oklahoman with a dream.

First, we must find him, though.

Erik? Erik Logan are you there?