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pods for primates : a catalogue of surfboards in australia since 1900

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references : books l

1999
Lencek, Lena and Bosker, Gideon :
The Beach - The History of Paradise on Earth
Plimco, Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,London SW 1V 2SA
First edition 1998
Soft cover, pages, 60 black and white photographs, 67 black and white illustrations, Bibliography, Index.
Image courtesy of Shoalhaven City Library.
Review
European centred book that while discuussing several interesting themes, largely ignores boardriding culture, see pages 256 to 260.

1899-1996
Letham, Isabel :
Making Waves : Isabel Letham 1899 - 1995
Selections from the Isabel Letham Collection,
held in Warringah Library's Local studies Collection.
Warringah Council Information and Cultural Services, 1996?
Soft cover, 23 pages, 25 black and white photographs.
Review

1998
Levy, Shawn: Rat Pack Confidential
Fourth Estate Limited
Salem Road London W2 4BU. 1998.
Soft cover, 344 pages, black and white plates, Index.
Image courtesy of Shoalhaven City Library.
Review
Includes details of Peter Lawford's surfing history (page 64) and a photograph with Duke Kahanamoku at Waikiki, circa 1952.
See History: 1956
Also note:
" 'If Peter didn't want to get-laid, he'd get a girl to suck his cock. Every night of his life. That doesn't sound like a homosexual to me. I'd be with a girl, and the next thing I knew she'd be with him.' -surfing buddy Joe Naar."
Page 198
and

"In May 1964, he (Frank Sinatra) was in Kauai to direct a movie. One day off, he was wading in the ocean with the producer's wife when a riptide pulled them a couple hundred yards out. Gulping water instead of oxygen, he was too blinded to see when fullback-sized actor Brad Dexter fought the heaving surf to reach them.
Frank was sobbing: 'I'm finished. It's all over, over.'
Far off on the beach, rescuers were assembling with surfboards and tow ropes. Dexter grabbed ahold of the woman and dragged her over to Frank, who was still blubbering.
'Please take care of my kids. I'm going to die.'
Dexter struggled to get Frank to help himself.
'I tried to get him angry enough to start fighting back by calling him a fucking lily-livered coward,' he remembered. 'A spineless, gutless shit. But he didn't react.'
The woman was no better. Dexter slapped their faces, heaved them up into the air to breathe, held them under his arms while he fought to tread water.
The surfboards finally arrived, and Frank and the woman were ferried back to shore strapped to them; Dexter floated in on his own-in more ways than one.
"My family thanks you," he quixotically told Dexter-the only thanks the actor ever got directly from him."
Pages 268 and 269.

1962
Liebers, Arthur :
The Complete Book of Water Sports
Coward-McCann Inc. New York
Hard cover, 232 pages, black and white photographs / illustrations,Bibiogrphy, Acknowledgements, Index
Chapter 6 : Surfriding, pages .127 to 136, black and white photograph, black and white illustration.
Review
Basic history, technique, design and competition..
Notes dvelopment of balsa / fibreglass boards and includes directions and plans for making a paddle board (Approved by the Palos Verde Surfing Club), pages 134-136.

1907, October
London, Jack :
‘A Royal Sport’ in “A Woman’s Home Companion” journal
Reprinted as Chapter VI in
1911 The Voyage of the Snark
Macmillan, New York.
Hard cover, 340 pages, 119 b/w photographs
Chapter VI : pages 75 – 90, 6 b/w photographs
1971 Edition : Seafarer Books, The Merlin Press Ltd.,
11 Fitzroy Square, London W.1
Reprinted in1996 in Finney and Houston as Appendix E.
First appearing in October 1907 this article was a significant adjunct to George Freeth’s introduction of surfing to California in 1907.
Review
Enthusiastic account of solid board surfing, Waikiki circa 1907.

2000
Longhurst, Robert :
The Lifesaver - Images of Summer
Playright Publishing Prty Ltd, PO Box 548 Caringbah NSW Australia 2229
for and behalf of Surf Life saving Australia
Hard cover, 159 pages, 85 colour photographs, 58 black and white photographs
Review
Essentially a photographic compliation, with a basic text outlining the history and development of the Life Saving movement.
Many images are double page.
Noteable historical photographs include...
Duke Kahanamoku at Cronulla page 16,
Cronulla Beach 1908 page 17,
and a tubing Kirra Point 1922 page 22.

1946
Lord, Lindsay :
Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls
Cornell Maritime Press
241West 23rd Street New York 11, N.Y.1946
Hard cover, 305 pages, 21 black and white photographs, 118 black and white diagrams and graphs, Index
Review
Although surfboard design is not studied in this book, they are planing hulls and severval principles expounded by Lindsay Lord appear applicable.
See Fundamentals of Surfboard Dynamics
The book was treasured by seminal Californian board builder, Bob Simmons.
Many of the models and diagrams appear similar to Simmons' famous wide tailed Spoons of the early 1950's, emphasizing the increase in lift by incorprating parallel running lines, page 71.

Figure 29, page 72 illustrates one of Lord's models (M2) that features nose scoop, concave bottom and twin keels (fins). See image below.
The chapter on rudders, illustrates a thick foil that resembles some examples of Bob Simmons' fins, page 221.
The chapter on Hull Structure promotes the use of resin laminates, particually plywood, as an emerging and superior constuction technique.
Contemporary reports indicate that others surfers were aware of the book, but (not suprisingly) none could understand it
- see Legendary Surfers : Bob Simmons Vol 1 Chapter 15 1946.

1987
Loveridge, Richard
Maps by Andrew Bradsworth :
A Guide to the Surf Beaches of Victoria
Ross Publishing for Lothian Publishing Company
11 Munro Street, Port Melbourne 3207.
Soft cover, 127 pages, 12 colour plates, 20 black and white photographs, 50 black and white maps, 11 synoptic charts, glossary, index.
Review
In-depth location guide with intensive analysis of history, access, conditions and facilities. The accompanying maps are excellent and the use of synoptic charts to indicate optimum swell conditions is (probably) unique.
Two minor criticisms : large scale maps to put the smaller maps in context eg. east and west of Melbourne; and a larger range of photographs eg. Big Bells 1965/1981.
Any book about Victorian surfing seems not quite complete without at least one photograph of Wayne Lynch.- see below.

1999
Loveridge, Richard
Maps by Andrew Bradsworth :
Surfing Victoria - The Ultimate Guide
Second Edition of A Guide to the Surf Beaches of Victoria, 1987
Phillip Matthews Book Publishers Pty Ltd
80 A Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, NSW 2068.
Soft cover, 128 pages, 12 colour photographs, 20 black and white photographs, 49 black and blue maps, 11 synoptic charts, glossary, index.
Image courtesy of Shoalhaven City Library.
Review
Superior work to the first edition, above. The first chapter, Weather and Waves, has substantial additions, the Glossary has been moved to the back and an Index.
Most of the excellent original maps have been retained, but it is in the photographs that there is most improvement.
The author's selection, the criteria is expounded in the Introduction, is highly informative and the detailed captions are often fascinating.
This book about Victorian surfing has 2 photographs of Wayne Lynch.- page 103.

1995
Lowrie, David :
Surfing at Sandon Point
- Includes History, Highlights and Photographs.
Self published (No publishing credits). 1995.
Soft cover, 32 pages, 8 colour photographs, 30 black and white photographs.
Review
A mix of some local history, boardriding clubs, local manufacturers and personal rememiciences.
Many paragraphs comprise lists of local identities (including the ever present nick-names).
The lack of a map to distinguish the various breaks (the Point, Bombie, Southy, Reef, Jetty, etc) is a difficulty for non-local readers.
The text dates boardriding in the area from the early 1950's, before the introduction of the Malibu board in 1956, but does not mention the influence of the local Surf Life Saving Clubs.
Thirroul SLSC dates from 1908 and Bulli SLSC from 1909.
Circa 1913, the Thirroul "Club complained to Council of 'boards shooting waves in the surf' and wanted it stopped. Bulli Council fully agreed." - Middleton and Figtree, Page Ten.

1988
Lowdon, Brian J. and Lowdon, Margaret (eds.):
Competitive Surfing - A Dedicated Approach
Mouvement Publications, Torquay, Victoria 3228, Australia
Hard cover, 292 pages, 12 color plates, 60 b/w photographs, 54 b/w illustrations, glossary, appendices.
Review
Intensive analysis for the competitive orientated surfer.
Excellent Chapter 8 by Simon Anderson on design.
Chapter 5 (Peter Cole on big waves) and Chapter 14 (Flynn, Stanford and Baker on beach dynamics) are of interest to the general reader.

2005
Lumis, Trevor:
Pacific Paradises - The Discovery of Tahiti and Hawaii
Pluto Press Australia.
7 Leverson Street, North Melbourne Victoria 3051. 2005
www.plutoaustralia.com
Soft cover, 212 pages, black and white maps, Endnotes, Bibliography, Index.
Image courtesy of Shoalhaven City Library.
Review

1984
Lueras. Leonard :
Surfing - The Ultimate Pleasure
Workman Publishing
1 West 39 Street New York, NY 10018
Soft cover, 236 pages, colour photographs, black and white photographs, Appendices : Surfboard Evolution, Music, Film, Bibliography, Index, Credits.
Review
A delightfully written and presented book that details modern surfing's development in Hawaii and subsequent spread across the waves of the world.
Early chapters (up to the mid 1960's) are excellent, later chapters tend to suffer from too broad a focus in a limited space - for example 'the Australian shortboard 1967 - 1970' pages 150 -154.
The photographs and illustrations are of a consistantly high standard and beautifully reproduced.
The Appendicies are welcome additions, although there are misgivings about some of the details in the Surfboard Evolution section.

1999
Lueras. Leonard and Lueras, Lorca:
Surfing Indonesia
Periplus Action Guides, Periplus Editions, Hong Kong.
Soft cover, 302 pages, 146 colour photographs, 2 black and white photographs, 8 colour illustrations, 11 colour maps, 5 black and white illustration, Index.
Review
Intensive surf guide with a host of contributing editors/photographers.
Some historical data is given about some breaks.
Also note Bali's First Surfers, pages 50-53 and Indo Surf Gallery (Art) pages 218-231.

2001
Lynch, Gary and Gault-Willians, Malcom :
Tom Blake : The Uncommon Journey of a Pioneer Waterman
Published by the Croul Family Foundation
Corona del Mar, California. 2001.
Produced by Spencer Croul and The Croul Family Foundation
Editor : William K. Hoopes
Hard cover, pages, black and white photographs, black and white illustrations,

surfresearch.com.au

Note
This is not a complete list of surfing books, only books read and reviewed for this site are listed.
For more comprehensive lists go to...
The Surfing Bibliography - Surfing Books
- Steven Whelan's (England).comprehensive list of books, film, video and magazines, listed alphabetically.
and/or
The Water Log Surfing Bibliography
- an excellent listing of books and journals by Daved Marsh (USA) listed by category.