The Surfer’s Library

S2 E28: In the Shadow of Waimea by Chris Ahrens

Today’s episode dives into Hansen: The Adventures of a Surfer, Skydiver, Team Roper, Entrepreneur by Don Hansen with Chris Ahrens, the story of a true original whose life went far beyond surfing. In this episode, we focus on Chapter 5, “In the Shadow of Waimea,” where Hansen spends a pivotal year on Oahu’s North Shore, pushing himself in some of the biggest waves in the world and ultimately landing a coveted Surfer Magazine cover, so let’s paddle out and drop into Hawaii in the fall of 1960 and experience this defining moment in his remarkable journey. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary [buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary]. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com [thesurferslibrary@gmail.com].

S2 E27: The Stylist: Country Livin’ With Bill Hamilton by Drew Kampion

Today we’re jumping back into The Way of the Surfer by Drew Kampion, reading “The Stylist: Country Livin’ With Bill Hamilton.” I’m a big Hamilton fan, so I’m especially stoked to bring you this one. If you’ve been around surfing for a while, you know he’s more than just Laird’s dad, Bill Hamilton is a legend, and one of the most stylish surfers of the ’60s and ’70s. And if you don’t believe me, go back and watch classics like Free and Easy or The Sunshine Sea. In this chapter, Hamilton comes through as more than a surfer, he’s a thinker who sees riding waves as a mental and spiritual discipline, pushing past fear to become one with the ocean. Kampion explores his total commitment to life and surfing, his ability to adapt through the shortboard revolution, and his identity as both an artist and a fiercely independent spirit, capturing someone who truly lived the idea that surfing isn’t just something you do, it’s a way of being. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary [buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary]. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com [thesurferslibrary@gmail.com]. Let’s paddle out.

S2 E26: Women On Waves - Chapt 23: The Resurgence of Glide

Today, in our continued tribute to women surfers and women’s history month I will be reading chapter 23 of Jim Kempton’s book Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing: From Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions. It’s titled The Resurgence of Glide. Last episode, we explored the pioneering women surfers of the 1950s and 60s, those who helped establish a place in the lineup during a transformative time in surfing. Now, we fast forward into the 1980s and 90s, where women continued carving out their path in a competitive, male-dominated sport. Through the shortboard revolution and the early days of the professional tour, they weren’t just participating—they were progressing the sport right alongside the men. But this chapter offers a different perspective on progress. It reminds us that surfing isn’t only about pushing harder, faster, or more aggressively. Sometimes, progress looks like returning to something deeper—style, flow, and connection to the wave. This is a story about beauty in motion, about grace and rhythm, and about how women surfers helped bring longboarding, and the art of glide, back into the spotlight. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary [buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary]. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com [thesurferslibrary@gmail.com]. Let’s paddle out.

S2 E25: Women On Waves - Chapt 6: Hollywood Malibu Magic 1945–1958

Chapter 6 of Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing from Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions by Jim Kempton moves us into the early twentieth century, when surfing began spreading beyond Hawai‘i and into popular culture. During this time, women played an important role in the evolution of surfing, a role that has not always been discussed. Women like Darrylin Zanuck, Kathy Kohner, Robin Grigg, Aggie Bane, Vickie Flaxman, Claire Cassidy, the Calhouns, and Eve Fletcher who kept showing up and carving out space in the lineup and changing the direction of surfing in the process. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary [http://buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary]. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com [thesurferslibrary@gmail.com]. Let's paddle out.

S2 E24: Women On Waves (Preface & Chapt 1)

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m diving into Jim Kempton’s incredible book, Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing: From Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions. This book is dedicated to restoring women to their rightful place in the history of surfing. Because from the very beginning, women have been in the lineup. Long before professional tours, sponsorship deals, or glossy magazine covers, women were riding waves in ancient Polynesia. They were part of the fabric of early beach communities in California. They pushed limits, challenged expectations, and carved out space in a culture that didn’t always make room for them. Kempton lays out why this history matters, how these stories were sidelined, minimized, or erased, and why bringing them forward changes the way we understand surfing itself. We’ll go back to the roots, tracing women’s surfing to its origins and exploring how history slowly, and sometimes deliberately, shifted the spotlight away from them. So in the spirit of Women’s History Month, paddle out with me as we begin rediscovering the women who were there all along and give their stories the space they’ve always deserved.