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1930
La Belle, Claude A.:
Bailey Twins in Philippines

A. L. Burt, NY, 1930
(1930)
Hard Cover, 278 pages, 9 pages of ads
Review
The cover illustration is reproduced in b/w as the frontispiece.




2014
Laderman, Scott: 
Empire in Waves - A Political History of Surfing.
University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 2014.
Paperback, 238 pages, black and white illustrations and photographs, Notes, Index.
Review.
Scott Laderman anaylses surfing in a political context, exploring similar themes as Isaiah Helekunihi Walker's Waves of Resistance (2011).
He argues that "surfing- however rooted it may be in the individual pursuit of pleasure- has been a pastime impossible to divorce from the political universe in which it originated, spread, and took root." (page 7)

One of several similar works from academia appearing in the 21st century, unfortunately it is marred by a number of inaccuracies.

In the case of Bruce Brown's landmark The Endless Summer (1964-1966) neither of the stars, Mike Hynson and Robert August were "in fact, ... a professional surfer." (page 48).
While the occupation of "professional surfer" was still a decade away, in 1963 Hynson and August were widely recognised as elite surfers in California.
The emphatic claim that "not once did it (the film) acknowledge the country's (South Africa's) notorious system of racial segregation, including on its beaches" (page 90) appears to be moderated, if not contradicted, by Laderman's
own footnote quoting Brown's observation that "sharks and porpoises have yet to integrate in South Africa." (page 200).

The examination of Indonesian politics (Chapter 3) is also covered in Phil
Jarratt's Bali: Heaven and Hell (2014).
Compare and contrast:

Stranger, Mark: Surfing Life: Surface, Substructure and the Commodification of the Sublime (2011)
Walker, Isaiah Helekunihi: Waves of Resistance : Surfing and History in Twentieth-century Hawaiʻi (2011)
Westwick, Peter and Neushul, Peter: The World in the Curl: An Unconventional History of Surfing (2013)
Warren, Andrew and Gibbson, Chris: Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers (2014)


2019
Kent Ladkin: 
Natural Necessity Surf Shop.
Natural Necessity Surf Shop, 2019.
Review
A promotional publication celebrating 40 years of this large surf shop at Gerringong, on the south coast of NSW, Australia.
Previously to the opening of the shop in Fern Street, Brad and Kent Ladkin brewed and distributed the highly popular Honey Wax.

See The House of Wax


2005
Lake, Sanoe; with Jarrett, Steven: 
Surfer Girl - A Guide to the Surfing Life.
Little Brown and Company.
Time Warner Book Group
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, May 2005.
Paperback, 144 pages, black and white and colour illustrations and photographs, Appendix: Surf Lingo, Board Lingo, Resources, Credits, Acknowledgements.
Review. 
  Instructional book aimed at female boardriders richly supplemented with photographs, instructional illustrations, comic illustrations, and cartoon strips.
Comic illustrations by Robert Myers.
Instructional illustrations by Stacey Peterson.
Full colour icon graphics by Michael Wang.
Early surfing history pages 18 to 23; women's surfing "herstory" pages 76 to 83; surfboard design pages 85 to90.

1976
Larsen, Ted and Belbin, Theo: 
A Shade of Blue ... A Touch of Gold.
A Fifty Year History of North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club.
North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club, Cronulla, NSW, Australia, 1976.
Hard cover, 143 pages, black and white photographs, Club records.
Review.

1959
Laschever, Barnett D., Illustrated by Haris Petie
Getting to Know Hawaii
Coward-McCain, New York, 1959.
Hard cover, pages,
Review
One of a series of children’s books intended for school libraries.

Historical figures--Mark Twain, explorer Captain Cook, Queen Liliuokalani, Sanford Dole, Hawaii's first president and governor--greet us as we get to know the background of fellow Americans of Oriental, European and Caribbean stock who live on this eight-island chain.
Today, islanders and visitors alike enjoy such invigorating sports as swimming in warm, reef-protected waters, surfboard riding and thrilling rides in outrigger canoes.



1998 
Lencek, Lena and Bosker, Gideon :
The Beach - The History of Paradise on Earth
Secker and Warburg, Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW 1V 2SA.
Viking Penguin (USA), 1998.
First edition 1998
Hard cover, 310 pages, 60 black and white photographs, 67 black and white illustrations, Bibliography, Index.
Review
European centred book that while discussing several interesting themes, largely ignores boardriding culture, see pages 256 to 260.

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
Soft cover, 310 pages, 60 black and white photographs, 67 black and white illustrations, Bibliography, Index.
Review
Paperback edition of the above.
European centred book that while discussing 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.

2008
Linden, Natalie :
Surf Girl Roxy.
Chronical Books LLC, 
680 Second Street, San Francisco, California, 94107, 2008. 
 Hard cover, 216 pages, colour and black and white photographs, (Acknowledgements), (Photograph Index).
Review
High quality photographs, about half of which are fashion shots for Roxy surfwear.
The text is an edited combination of interviews about surfing from members of the Roxy team.

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. 
2015
Long, Rusty: The Finest Line
The Global Pursuit of Big-Wave Surfing
Afterword by Greg Long, foreword by Tom Carroll
Insight Editions, San Rafael, California, 2015.
Hard cover, 231 pages, extensive colour photographs, Acknowledgements, Photo Credits.
Review
Documents a number  of big-wave sessions in the last 25 years from the North Pacific to Tasmania, with the former dominating significantly.
Although Long is said to champion "the paddle movement," there are a lot of jet-skis in these photographs.


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 compilation, with a basic text outlining the history and development of the Life Saving movement. 
Many images are double page.
Notable historical photographs include...
Duke Kahanamoku at Cronulla page 16, 
Cronulla Beach 1908 page 17, 
and a tubing Kirra Point 1922 page 22.

2008 
Lopez, Gerry :
Surf - Is where you find it.
Patogonia Books.
Hard cover, 246 pages, 38 colour photographs, 12 black and white photographs
Review 
A compilation of previously published of surf tales, recounting Lopez's surfing and snowboarding adventures with several articles featuring friends and notable surfing identities.

This book donated with many thanks by Paul Flack, February 2011.


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 several 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, emphasising the increase in lift by incorporating 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, particularly plywood, as an emerging and superior construction technique.
Contemporary reports indicate that others surfers were aware of the book, but (not surprisingly) 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.

1988 
Lowdon, Brian J. and Lowdon, Margaret (eds.): 
Competitive Surfing - A Dedicated Approach
Mouvement Publications, Torquay, Victoria 3228, Australia 
Hard cover, 292 pages, 12 colour 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. 
 

1958
Lowe, A. M..:
Surfing, Surf-Shooting and Surf-Lifesaving Pioneering
Printed and published at 36 Augusta Road, Manly, 1958.
Soft cover, unpaginated, black and white photographs.
Review
In many respects this work is historically suspect.
The early sections simply unverifiable, dates are difficult to determine and the text generally presents a labyrinth of digressions and assorted facts and/or theories making it a very difficult read.
The work is grossly self-serving, Lowe viewing himself as the principal motivator in the development of (body) surf-shooting in Australia, although several sections appear upon analysis to obviously contradict to this view.
Lowe's account of Tommy Tana is one example of the text being fraught with contradiction.
Lowe claims, at a very young age, he is the only bodysurfer braving the waves at Manly and is introduced, via a friend, to Tommy at his place of employment.
When they first meet at the beach, Tommy is already there setting his fish traps, indicating Tommy was obviously a regular at the beach and raising the question of why the two "regulars" not met in the surf before.
It seems the younger Lowe is simply rewriting the facts to advance his status beyond his elders, Tommy Tana and Freddie Williams.

For extracts see:
1958 Arthur Lowe: Surfing Pioneer

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 reminiscences. 
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.

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 consistently high standard and beautifully reproduced. 
The Appendices 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, 
Review.
Review by Nick Carroll
realsurf forum, Sunday Sep 19, 2010. 
http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/search.php?t=18006
"TOM BLAKE'S BIO.
I am generally not a fan of surfing bios or autobios, though I thought Jarratt's book on Hakman was good and actually the one Kirk Willcox did with my little brother was OK too.
I'm more interested in reading memoir, and on that score I reckon Mike Doyle's "Morning Glass" and Nat's "Nat's Nat" are both really good. 
But "Tom Blake: The Uncommon Journey Of A Pioneer Waterman" is so spectacularly odd, so carefully put together, so grimly determined to keep a lid on its subject and make him into a saint, yet so incredibly revealing of his crippling loneliness, tamped-down need for human contact, and calm faith in what his life had told him about the ocean and the world in general, that I can't help but think it's a bit of an epic in its way.
Though my God, there is a much greater book inside it just screeching to get out."

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surfresearch.com.au

home catalogue history references appendix

Geoff Cater (1999 - 2018) : References - Books - L.
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/rbl.html