Check out the Making Waves Conference at UCLA on June 3.
“I still remember my first wave at nine years old, the power of riding that wave and what it can do to transform you,” said Shaun Tomson over the phone. “It all starts with – ‘Wow, I want to ride that wave!’”
This Sunday, some of modern surfing’s founding figures will gather at the Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles for Making Waves: A History of Modern Surfing and the Clash of Cultures. Making Waves features two film screenings: Bustin’ Down the Door (2009) directed by Jeremy Gosch and Sea of Darkness (2008) directed by Michael Oblowitz each followed by question and answer panels as well as guest speakers.
Among some of the folks present to discuss the films and surf culture in general will be Shaun Tomson, Ian Cairnes and Peter Townend. The event begins at 12:30 and runs until 9:00 p.m and is open to the public. Seating is first come, first serve.
To find out a little bit more about Making Waves and the long path that led there I rang up 1977 World Champion Shaun Tomson to ask him a couple questions.
When I asked him about what it was like to be an integral part of surfing’s transformation, he responded quickly. “We had no idea what we were doing back then. We were the first generation to make a living off of surfing, starting companies, brands and all.” Not necessarily an intuitive leap.
“If you see any part of the movie,” Tomson says (in reference to Bustin’ Down the Door), “make it the last three minutes. The last three waves shared between Rabbit, MR and I really bring it all together. Jeremy (the director) really captured the past and the present there.”
Having seen the film several times (and another time since our conversation) I can corroborate this advice, and, ultimately, I’m curious about what the next four decades have in store for surfing and surf culture; so I figure it’s best to ask someone who has been a big part of the last four.
“What advice do you have for future generations of surfers who are going to shape the culture of surfing?”
When he speaks this time he makes me feel as though I knew the answer already and he is just showing me where to find it inside myself. Sounds cliché, but here it is:
“Stay close to the essence of it all; everything else around it is peripheral, and if you lose your connection to the wave, you will crumble.”
