I have lived a relatively long life, zeroing in on my 76th birthday on Sept. 29.
In terms of being a surfer, I am an old dude, almost always the oldest person in the lineup when I paddle out. I feel pretty good to have made it this far, many of my good pals haven’t.
But there are dudes way older than me who are still around and a big part of the surf culture. It is with respect to them that I offer up this week’s ink and tell you about a few of them that I can call pals.
The first would be Walter “The Godfather” Hoffman. Born in 1931, he is still dropping in on sizable waves. Walter was one of the early big wave surfers in the 1950s, part of the crew that hung out at Makaha that included George Downing, Buzzy Trent and Peter Cole.
He is also the owner of Hoffman Fabrics in Mission Viejo. They supply the surf world with much of the fabric used for shirts, shorts and all sorts of other surfwear. One of the largest fabric companies on the planet. If you are wearing a Hawaiian shirt, there is a better than average chance that is Hoffman fabric on ya.
Not only is Walter a surf world “biggie,” but his whole family rocks the planks. His daughter, Joyce Hoffman, is a multi-time women’s world champion. His late brother “Flippy” pioneered “tow-in” surfing way back in the 1960s. His son-in-law is the renowned Herbie Fletcher, surf star in his own right and father of Christian and Nathan Fletcher, who are both world class wave masters.
Next up, I’d like to mention Bob “Ole” Olsen. This dude is 94 and not only still surfing, but also still shaping great surfboards. I got my very first “team” surfboard from him back in 1960 when he had a shop in Sunset Beach and rode for him again in 1963, along with Mickey Munoz, when he opened up in Seal Beach and partnered with Hobie Alter.
I have always loved to include Ole in my rant about how back in the early days everybody’s name ended in either a “y” or “ie.” …
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