Tiger of the big waves is inducted
New Surfers Walk of Fame inductee Tiger Makin is flanked by fellow inductees John Joseph and Mike Purpus at a Saturday ceremony. Photo A sun-splashed crowd was treated to tales of a dashing surfer and epic waves as James “Tiger” Makin was inducted into the Hermosa Beach Surfers Walk of Fame in a Saturday ceremony at the city pier. The soft-spoken Makin, 58, was honored with a bronze plaque on the pier for an aggressive style and daring approach that earned widespread attention to his big-wave prowess, and brought him to competitive heights including a fifth-place finish in the U.S. Surfing Championships. Fellow Walk of Fame surfer Mike Purpus introduced Makin to the assemblage by telling a Tiger story in which the two surfers challenged a wave that saner men would not have ridden, with a smiling Makin dragging Purpus along into danger and glory. It was winter, sometime in the early 1970s, and the two were staying on Oahu’s North Shore. They had spent the morning at Log Cabins hanging out with legendary surf photographer Leroy Grannis – who also would be inducted into the Walk of Fame – watching a rainy, blown-out ocean that offered no apparent opportunity for surfing. “There was…
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