Skip navigation.

SurfRiders: In Search of the Perfect Wave

Description

An illustrated history of surfing, with essays on six different aspects of the sport:

  • "Morning at Freshwater: Duke Kahanamoku Introduces Surfing to Australia"
  • "Surfari: In Search of the Perfect Wave"
  • "The Heat of Competition"
  • "Revolution: Longboards, Shortboards, Thrusters and Guns"
  • "The Unridden Realm: a Day at Jaws"
  • "Surforama: the Surfing Culture"

Reviews

"SurfRiders is an amazing contradiction, an easy read that provides tremendous insight into the arcane world of surfing. A rare glimpse into the elusive soul of surfing that is at once eloquent and intensely personal."
— Greg Ambrose, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"Throughout, the sheer beauty of the waves and the excitement of those who challenge them is conveyed with style. The first intelligent book on the increasingly popular sport-and way of life-known as surfing."
— Steve Heilig, San Francisco Chronicle

"Warshaw does a superb job of tracing the evolution of surfing-as a culture and sport-from the days of legendary Duke Kahanamoku to recent times. Appealing and well-researched, (with) spectacular images."
— Pete Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Author's Note

I was originally supposed to do the introduction and edit a collection of surfer-written essays -- Brock Little and Evan Slater were two of the guys they had lined up. But I power-played it, flew to San Diego to meet with the Tehabi owners, and talked them into letting me write the whole book. Evan is still kind of mad for getting aced out.

Surfer photo editor Rob Gilley did a nice job picking the shots for SurfRiders, but the book's design, I think, is awful—especially the cover, with it's five type fonts and video-slasher blood-drip title. Above the Roar: 50 Surfer Interviews was my response to that cheesy cover. (I wouldn't admit it for a few years, but the Roar cover turned out to be kind of a dud as well.) The SurfRiders essays hold up pretty well, especially "The Unridden Realm," which was kind of a warm-up for Maverick's, and "Surforama." And Tehabi did a first-rate marketing job, so the book's sold pretty well—about 40,000 copies to date.

Book Excerpt

Extended excerpt from Chapter Six: “Surforama: the Surfing Culture”

Surf Culture had infiltrated America’s consciousness by 1964. In the March issue of Surf Guide magazine, a full-page ad announced that the Makaha Surf-Skateboard was now available at Broadway, the Emporium, and Macy’s department stores. An upset Surf Guide reader sent in a letter complaining about an “obscene and offensive” photograph that had run in an earlier issue, showing young surfers on the beach dancing the Surfer’s Stomp: “You certainly shouldn’t print photos of half-clothed girls and cigarette-smoking ruffians!” A feature article titled “Surfing Goes Hollywood!” noted with some ambivalence that the just-released Beach Party, from American International Pictures, had earned a tidy $4 million, and that a sequel, Muscle Beach Party, was now in post-production. And finally, in the back section of the magazine, there was a short review of the second annual Los Angeles Surf Fair. Read more »

Cover of 'SurfRiders'

Buy this at Amazon.com »

Published

1997; Tehabi Books; San Diego, CA; 132 pages

Foreword

Tom Carroll

Introduction

Steve Hawk

Photography

Bruce Brown, Sylvain Cazenave, Jeff Divine, John Callahan, Rick Doyle, Rob Gilley, Leroy Grannis, Don James, Jim Russi, Tom Servais, Steve Wilkings

Note: Although this site is viewable on most any web-enabled device, it has been constructed to comply with the web standards that are supported by all modern browsers (e.g., Mozilla, Safari, Opera, etc.). If you are seeing this text, it's likely because your browser does not support these standards. Please consider upgrading your web browser so you can surf the web with style.