Camp Surf
by Chris Brown Getting started As the owner of a surf school, I’m approached daily by people with questions about how to start surfing. Here’s what I tell people. Step 1: Learn surfing etiquette Start with a lesson with a knowledgeable surf instructor or friend. Do not attempt to just paddle out on your own […]
Steve Wilkings: the artful eye
In 1964, Steve Wilkings became a member of Bay Cities Surf Club. He was a husky, smooth surfing regular footer whose family had just moved 7th and The Strand in Hermosa Beach. For a high school graduation present, his parents bought him a Honeywell Pentax 35 mm with a 400mm lens and his father converted […]
But I’m Thirsty for a Laugh! [THEATER PREVIEW]
“This is Woody Allen’s first play for Broadway. He was a sitcom writer at the time, so it’s written in that style; it’s very joke-joke-joke-joke, like rapid fire.” Gary Kresca pauses. “It’s just a shame the guy never had a career. Nobody knows who Allen is. So, really, MBCC is just trying to put him […]
2012 Hermosa Beach Surfing Walk of Fame inductees Mark Levy and Steve Wilkings
Mark Levy spoke of fellow Surfing Walk of Fame inductee Steve Wilkings’ years at Surfer Magazine as the halcyon days. But though Levy was a generation younger, he too enjoyed at least the tail end of surfing’s golden era, from the late ‘50s through the early ‘70s. Levy won Junior U.S. Surfing Championships in 1974. […]
Hudson Ritchie takes the longboard route
Thirteen-year-old Hudson Ritchie is skateboarding past my apartment. The barefoot grommet looks cool in his faded blue Levi’s and white T-shirt. His long blond hair, which usually hangs halfway down his back is now blowing in the wind behind him. He slows down a bit to say hi and then sails past me, showing off […]
The ocean with us – The heart of the matter
Since first being thrown overboard by my father Jacques Yves Cousteau at the age of seven, I have felt compelled to explore the sea. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our own ocean. How can we protect what we don’t yet understand? This is what has made me […]
Hermosa Beach eatery in foie gras fight
Hot’s Kitchen has drawn a lawsuit from animal protection advocates after the eatery stepped into a boiling debate over the production of foie gras – the fattened livers of ducks and geese – which will be banned in California effective July 1. Neither opponents nor supporters of foie gras are ducking the issue. Opponents contend […]
Kim Williams calls the plays for the 24/7 NFL Network
Last month was busy for Manhattan Beach resident Kim Williams. The Denver Broncos picked up Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. Then New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year for bounty violations. “It was a tremendously newsworthy week, and we’re in March,” said the […]