A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
Surfer|Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few
By Justin Housman
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong

Not to toot our own horn or anything, but making a magazine isn’t easy. Ideas don’t grow on trees, intros and columns don’t write themselves and the mountains of photos that pour in daily must be painstakingly winnowed down to best illustrate the stories. Then everything must be assembled like a puzzle by overworked art directors, making sure everything lines up properly in layouts to make a book that’s enjoyable to read. Any hiccups along the way can mess up everything. Getting all the nuts and bolts right is mandatory, but even when you do, there are plenty of other opportunities to mess things up. Did every decision made by the editors work? Did it have the right blend of stories? Will the opinions expressed feel dated and seem trite in a few years? Is it missing any trends that are about to light the surf world on fire? Answer those questions, then do it all over again next issue. Obviously, we aren’t perfect. Nor has any editorial staff in SURFER’s history ever been. And in a strange, masochistic kind of anniversary celebration, we’ve picked a handful of our most embarrassing misses, errors and goofs from 60 years in print. Please facepalm along with us.

Shaun “MR” Tomson

In the late 1970s, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards had a kind of friendly rivalry centered around busting through performance barriers and looking stylish as hell while doing it. MR, with his knock-kneed, wide stance and spread arms was flowing, barely contained exuberance. Tomson was refined, smooth, gentlemanly even while being radical. He could have worn a tux into the tube and it would have seemed perfectly reasonable.

Denne historien er fra Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020-utgaven av Surfer.

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Denne historien er fra Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020-utgaven av Surfer.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SURFERSe alt
60 Years Ahead
Surfer

60 Years Ahead

We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.

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4 mins  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
Surfer

A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong

You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few

time-read
7 mins  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
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THE LGBTQ+ WAVE

Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
For Generations to Come
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For Generations to Come

Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
Christina Koch, 41
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Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
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END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING

By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
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CHANGING OF THE GUARD

After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public

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What They Don't Tell You

How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?

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Volume 61, Issue 2
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How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible

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Volume 61, Issue 2