between Ken Bradshaw & Mark Foo
by Andy Martin (Buy it at Bay Book, Coastside Books, Moon News Bookstore)
Hi June,
I checked this new book, Stealing A Wave, out of my library a month or so ago. With the Mavericks Surfing Contest, possibly coming up soon (Friday maybe), perhaps some of your readers would like to buy a copy from the local bookstores that they support. It has lots of Mavericks’ related parts. Bradshaw is an old geezer like me, but claims the title for the largest wave ever ridden, just ten years ago. His battles with Foo, the young up and comer, who died at Mavericks competing with him, are legendary.
I just heard that an older world class Big Wave surfer, Peter Davi, died today at the Ghost Trees, surf site off of Monterey’s name-stealing Pebble Beach. He was one of the first surfers that Jeff Clark, Mavericks’ first conquerer, invited to join him there. I’m sorry to hear of this extremely brave man’s death, even if he was doing what he loved.
Having known the heart-pounding, lung-bursting, direction-confused terror of going Over the Falls and being held down for a seeming eternity during a Wipeout on just a twelve foot wave during my youthful surfing days in Hawaii, I can barely imagine what these guys experience on the monsters they ride. Reading this book in the safety of your livingroom will help its readers imagine the thrills and dangers and fierce competitions of this sport and greatly improve their appreciation of what they are viewing, if they make it out to the Contest. Enjoy. John Vonderlin
Email John: [email protected]