When it comes to riding waves, Tom Morey’s influence cannot be overstated. His entire life has been dedicated to it. He organized the first surfing contest, invented the thing that got Kelly Slater surfing, invented the first (successful) removable fin system, developed the first foam surfboard along with Mike Doyle, and of course, created the Morey Boogie bodyboard. In 2003, he became part of the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. Now, he’s in desperate need of your help.
Morey loved to surf. “For anybody to become a graduate of this planet,” he said, “it is essential that they learn to enjoy this activity.” According to The Encylopedia of Surfing, Morey was born in Detroit in 1935. When he was 9 years old, he moved to Laguna Beach. Within a few years, he was hooked on riding waves. Surfing, however, wasn’t exactly en vogue yet, and, with a B.A. in Mathematics, Morey became an aircraft engineer in the late ’50s. Soon after, however, he decided to follow his passion and devote his life to surfing. “In 1964 he quit Douglas to open Tom Morey Surfboards,” writes EOS, “and the following year he formed Morey-Pope Surfboards with San Diego surfer-designer Karl Pope.”
Morey didn’t spend his life chasing the almighty dollar. Instead, he spent it spreading stoke to as many people as possible. “This selfless path has given Tom some internal fulfillment but created financial hardship in these final years of his life,” wrote Mike Stewart, Melinda, Morey, Seamus McGoldrick, Jack McCoy, and Saul Zaragoza, the creators of a fundraiser for Morey. “At a time when Tom should be nourished by, and set from his contributions, he is physically blind and scrambling in that darkness to make basic ends meet.”
If you surf, you have been influenced by Tom Morey. Now, in his hour of need, he needs our help. Donate HERE.
