And the Stories Just Keep on Comin'

Mike Stang, 1950s big wave pioneer and lifelong friend of Greg Noll told me a couple of wonderful Dewey Weber stories when I reached him by phone outside Redding. Mike was a permanent LA County Lifeguard for 30 years. And, Steve 'Rat' Sutherland, a surfer and sander who worked for Dewey, Bing, Greg Noll and other board builders during the heyday of the 1960s took some time away from fly fishing in Montana to share some stories too. There is, not surprisingly, general agreement among the many I've spoken to about Dewey. They all speak about his incredible talent as a surfer, his outgoing, open, fun-loving personality, and with regret, his struggle with alcoholism. I am moved by each conversation and am aware that the era the interviewees speak of are, as Stang said "Times that will never be again." They were privileged to live those times, and we are privileged to recall.