Above the Roar: 50 Surfer Interviews
Description
Short but lively interviews from surfers of all ages and stations; surfing is connected to a broad range of topics, including money, drugs, religion, friendship, style, travel, parenting, competition, environmentalism, music, war, celebrity, sex, danger and death; lavishly illustrated with photographs and original art.
Reviews
"An intelligent, handsomely presented tome representing more than a dozen years of interviews...sharply astute, gently humorous...compelling reading."
— Deb Hopewell, San Jose Mercury News
"A remarkable book...the best of its type every published on surfing."
— Steve Pezman, Surfer's Journal
"The merging of art-house production and core surf subject matter is a pleasant change from the usual bow to the lowest common denominator, and should be on any reading surfer's wish list."
— Scott Hulet, Longboard
Author's Note
I convinced ace longboarder/glad-hander Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, along with his delightful wife Janice, to form a publishing company called Waterhouse, based out of their home in Santa Cruz. I'd produce the books, Robert and Janice would sell them. Above the Roar was our first project. Art director Jamie Muehlhausen did a fantastic job designing Roar, and was a joy to work with, as was the endlessly capable Denise Bashem, our production director, who guided the whole project start to finish. Of my four books, this was by far the most fun to make. Except for the foreword. Kelly Slater just screwed us on the foreword; said he'd write it, actually turned in some rough notes and thoughts, then stalled for about a month, then just vanished altogether one week before deadline. Tom Curren was second choice; he agreed then flaked out a few days later. Shaun Tomson filled in at the last minute, and produced an absolute gem of a foreword—I should have gone to him right off the bat. Above the Roar is, I think, a perfect little coffee table book; nice to look at, and a quick, easy, entertaining read. But it was too expensive at $40, and the marketing/distribution end was a lot harder than Robert, Janice and I thought. We printed 5,000, sold about 4,000, didn't lose money but didn't make much, and decided to shut Waterhouse down.
Book Excerpt
Above the Roar interviews with Terry “Tubesteak” Tracy, Nat Young, and Lisa Andersen.
Read it now »
Published
1997, Waterhouse, Santa Cruz, 124 pages
Foreword
Shaun Tomson
Photography
Tom Servais, Jeff Divine, Art Brewer, Ron Stoner, Bernie Baker, Leroy Grannis, Leo Hetzel, Steve Sherman, Rob Gilley, Peter Simons, Brad Barrett, Warren Bolster, John Severson, Steve Wilkings, others
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Copyright © 2005, Matt Warshaw.
