jINDSCY
I AM T ill EVI-
Laie in ihe summer of '63 Jack
O Neil fashioned me a 9' 3" gun shaped
surfboard in his nascent surf shop al
Santa Cruz For anxious months my
offsiders and I waited expectantly for
the board, hoping to launch the shiny
thing at Indian Beach and join the
fraternitv of surfers, a mere handful,
w ho paddled just of fshore Freighted to
Portland, we carted it exultanth back to
Cannon Beach in January roped to the
r<x>f of my '62 Corsair Monza O na
stormy Saturday morning we stripped to
7 shirts and cut-off blue jeans (de rieucr
surf apparel in those times) and hit tne
heavies After thrashing about in surf
tilled with logs and debris my ardor for
surfing subsided The board sa, on pegs
in the attic for years
I flirts years later, goaded by my
friend Knox Swanson. I resurrected the
old board aixl slipped back into the sea
My surf work is very pedestrian I'm
more a paddler than a surfer, really, but
I enjoy sitting on my board, undulating
in the cradle of sea which is endlessly
rocking
Fine surfers are keen watermen
whose savvy regarding the vanities of
wind, tide, and timing are splendid to
behold. Locales have their legends,
past and current. I would like to pay
tribute to three whose styles and
approach bear scrutiny
Knox Swanson first nudged me
past the shore brcak'and into the lineup
Lanky and Nordic, he confesses to a
certain awkwardness at land bound
activities. In water, he is eloquent. In
his Beerman Creek hen house repose
countless surfboards spanning the
decades of modern surfing When he
slips his favorite a leashless long board
- into the surf line, one witnesses a
synchronization of motion and form
mesmerizing in its fluidity Many
surfers expend a great deal of energy
propelling their boards forward to catch
a wave. Knox appears to move without
visible effort into waves, gliding like a
needle down folds of green silk
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
described what he terms "Tne Edge", "a
place of definitions." At the edge "the
strange music starts, when you stretch
your luck so far that fear becomes
exhilaration and vibrates along your
anus " l consider ms friend John 1 eiter
to be a consummate "edge" man.
surfing beyond the pale, where one
hears the hi^h notes sung.
John s approach to surf and wave
challenges consistently separate him
from the pack at the impact zone
While the gang contentedly catches a
peeling series of overhead waves, John,
eschewing orthtxloxy, often homes in on
a less promising piece of water anti
makes it work for him, moulding the
wave to his will In a brother and
sisterhtxxl of adrenalin laced riders,
John's rigor is singular
On Thanksgiving Day. 1991, a
friend and I visited a local surf break
Freezing rain thrashed through gun
metal skies — a fitting horizon tor a
fierce and ghastly sea. We chatted up
two local surfers No one in the water
this afternoon. Too ugly.
Climbing a small promontory, I
glanced northward Several miles
offshore, working through wind driven
spray, a small red speck appeared just
inside the shipping lanes. John Leiter,
alone, surfing the edges of the envelop
Jack Brown began surfing at a
time in his life when many people
purchase Airstream Trailers, take up
golf, and winter in the Arizona Desert
Faced with potentially crippling
arthritis. Jack began a daily surf session
that continues to this time. No surfer
on the Upj>er Left Edge has exercised a
more pervasive influence on surfing anti
its inherent benefits for mind, body, and
spirit. His lean form cutting clean lines
on the faces of waves is the envy of
many a younger surfer.
Jack's dedication to the sport is
an inspiration
Peter Lindsey
low B and C natural, and Barney said
) 1 I F F trie school could use the thing until it
gathered dust
It seems the Booney boys,
Marko and Polo, were listening to the
band over at the Peak one evening
when some tourist s car in the parking
T r’end i o was conternplat mq a
lot thought it was being mugged and
gla ss of tne four basir food groups
its alarm started sounding It was a
Not that long ago, while
(veact. Hops. M alt ir»d water > »he
hot night, the band was cooking, and
listening for the sound of the breeze
nobody wanted to shut the door
’th»*i ! r, when j vo* e -pi » in to
m the branches, i heard one of those
Marko was staring at the
h is ear
noises inside my head that signals a
unplayed vibraphone in front of him,
how vou feel,ng >a »
communication from an alternate
trying to listen past the car alarm
He looked around io was in s ta n tly
reality -- or the onset of a virus A
"It's almost musical.' Polo
* o b e r it s ja rrin g t > n w e an
few days later i was pleasantly
suggested
undertaker inquire about your h e a ltn
unsurprised to receive a letter from
'Wrong tune." Marko grumbled
jack said he w is one jo o i for
an old amigo who now resides in
Wrong horn." Polo prompted
m other tw en ty m.-p*» th a t th ir ty ,
Camera Bluff. Oregon, somewhat east
"Maybe maybe it s just being
years
and south of here We ve printed
played wrong " Polo looked to the
' tie peop “ j a» te r explained tnu t
missives from the mountain village
sound of Marko s voice He saw the
ne ta d a problem it s an a ll too
before, and enjoy Camera Bluff s race
holy fire of righteous mischief in his
into space almost as much as our own
common sto ry m j neH hole lik e
brother 's eyes and as he has
Oh, by the way, any references to the
Newport a to u ris t fro m in inland
explained to the judge before, its best
infamous Ricky Carkeys and the Vista if he goes along with things so that
f a* *• ' )ver vne by f he
Cruisers are to be taken with a large
’ e m p fjiio n s a openly w a ita b le
nobody, especially Marko, gets
jug of saline solution - or something
seriously hurt
be i< » * air mg, b a y fro n t meander mg
As quick as you could say "Salt
»hen f r fro m home, L a l’ s in to c lam
Dear Ricky,
Peanuts", Marko had jerked the two
h w > " ibuse, overdoses md dies
Got together with Max and the
chrome bass tubes from the heavy
' ■ ■ V ?
. ''J$b r-: ■■ I ! !' 1 )» ]'•-.!
Mind Patrol to play a Unified School
vibraphone Handing B to Polo as they
to have her boxed and shipped home
District benefit and your name came
flashed through the door Marko led
> ■
• ..
-
......
up as soon as we started to scratch out the way to the offending vehicle, a
problem Too many cool ones not
a set list (We did "Sky Rat Boogie'to
Mercedes of course Beyond agreeing
end the first set. by the way )
that at this point the Merc could be
Thus. lack f ound h im s e lf d riv in g
Since the only way to keep
considered a percussion instrument,
n»s old s ta tio n wagon on a freew jy
some of the small schools out here
the Booneys were still debating
heading fot P er1 land in te rn it tonal
open is to combine them, somebody
technique when the owner ran up and
figured to get all the parents together
with a sing
la n d
wisely turned off the alarm before
once in a while and jawbone about the attem pting conversation with them
uncom plaining passenger boxed up in
school district — what we d like to
the back a i i went w e l’ u n til
"Sorry fellas." sez the guy in
have, what we don t want and how to the L L Bean jacket
gridlock
w ith the tim e
keep everybody in good spirits -
running out What if there w isn t
"Dee dee mau," Marko grunted
especially the kids
"Drive it away." Polo translated
another flig h t t i l l m orning
jack
When it became apparent that
"But." the jacket sez. looking
didri t want * i si end tne nigt t in a
we d have to give up the $300 apiece
over his shoulder, "I, uh, ordered "
rr. »ri w ifr m pa enger. ni , >cial
football helmets and the band
"Shut up," Polo explained, then
s ta tu ' w ; sr ik. *»» nugh men ne
director, folks did get a little down,
he turned to Marko and convinced
noticed a lane of t r a f f ic s t i l l
but then some options appeared
him that the guy was. in fact, leaving
m ovinq Cars w ith nappy passengers
Jamahl, Dolly s nephew from
Polo returned the tubes from
Zipped past in tn - f lane w h ile hack
Jamaica had a couple of friends
the vibes the next morning, having
i ept. ahead
visiting last August They worked
spent most of the night on Marko s
He pi.oied into that lane and tooled
haying in the valley, sneezed for a
porch watching the stars rotate over
happily o ff *o th e o r p o rt
week straight, and showed some of
the forever mountains, the only real
NAP'
the kids how to play soccer It stuck,
sanctuary his brother knew
The cop was very young, very
and since more kids can play soccer
So, Gene says he 11 have the
e a rn e s t and very sincere He
than American football, it
vibraphone playable inside a week's
contaminated most of the student
explained to Jack that he was
time, then take it to the school Its
body Cheaper and safer, too,
unlikely to go unplayed, too, since
v io la tin g the car pool lane He
although in warm weather the kids do Max has a sequencing program for his
exp'am ed you h io to nave tw o people
make a grid sweep for snakes before
Macintosh that will let him arrange
m the car to use tha t lane He was
they take to the field
for any combination of instruments,
w r itin g a hundred d o lla r tic kef
Once it became known that we
then print the parts for everybody
Hold on,' says Jack le t's count
couldn t afford a standard music
How 4 you like to have Max doing the
noses here, md p o in ts to the box
program, certain individuals (who
arrangem ents for your school band?
l don t th in k , said the cop, a fte r
shall remain nameless) from across
Tunes the kids actually like I
some confusion, a dead body counts
the county got their alleged heads
One of the violins and the viola,
as a passenger to r carpooling
together and decided to invent a
by the way, belonged to Marko's wife,
purposes
program based on the resources we
having belonged to her father She
Did the le g is la tu re say the
did have
left them when she left Marko, after
passenger had to be Hvmq -
The likelyhood that this
he came back from Nam, after she'd
l don » know
He to re o u t ’ he
meeting took place in the cocktail
tried and just couldn t handle it They
tic k e t wadded it up and th re w it on
lounge of the Peak Restaurant here in were all she left
tne ground
Camera Bluff is not general
Marko gave both instrum ents to
knowledge The Peak Pit Orchestra
"is n 't m a t lit t e r m g ? 'ja c k asked
the school Polo says maybe he's
has a reputation for wierdness that
The cop picked it up and began
finally letting go of her, and Polo says
they don t deserve Much of So, in
that s good
walk mg nark to h is car
Hey,
daylight, when they look more like
c a lle d Jack "I m running a l i t t l e late
normal people, some of the Orchestra
because of th is w hat s the chances
members and some more respectable
of an escort to the airp ort'?'
co-conspirators worked out a
He got no answer
structure that gives all the students
exposure to all kinds of music and to
all the instrum ents that the district
a » k ■
Q U A
b / h W O
owns or can beg or borrow
© o
In addition to the usual bunch
of brasses, drums, and reeds, there's a
really neat old upright grar.d, and
some digging around got us three
• FEATURING STARBUCKS CO 11 I I
violins, a viola, and the promise of a
• W II >| SI I I ( I ION OF MA( . A/.I.LI s
vibraphone
• V O II
• HEALTHFUL SNACKS
Jamahl hated to see the vibes
« 1 *1 ih , O » 1 7 1 I O
|Q) 4 ) 1 • 1 ) 1 «
leave the Peak, but Gene the Jewel has
HOURS
to haul the instrum ent to his shop
EVERYDAY 8:00-4:00
anyway to weld back the tubes for
& I SPRESSO
J
im
■ i m ■ ot « k I
9 9
-S’ - '»
The Lofi
Restaurant
D
a m m
O
m
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P O BOX 698
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