Surfing Book Media Kit

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Casagrande Press (March 1, 2006)
Language: English
Size: 6” x 9” (inches)
ISBN: 0-9769516-0-6
Price: $15.95 (USD)
Illustrations: 54 b/w photos and 7 Maps included
Availability: bookstores, amazon.com and surf shops

Paul Diamond, casagrandepress AT aol DOT com

For a media review copy, send your name, publication name, organization name and address (no PO Boxes, please) to casagrandepress AT aol DOT com


    Diamond began collecting and editing dramatic surfing tales when he moved three hours inland from the nearest surfing beach. The result is Surfing's Greatest Misadventures: Dropping In on the Unexpected ($15.95, Casagrande Press) available in stores or online including at www.thesurfbook.com.
    "As a veteran surf camp instructor, I've had my share of hospital runs, sharks, mishaps, and close calls," says Diamond. "I thought my surfing stories were intense, until other surfers began sending me theirs."
    Diamond's surfing book contains 30 tales including these:

* In 1990, two of Hawaii's most famous surfers nearly disappear in the Mediterranean while attempting to paddle surfboards from Corsica to Elba.
* In Sri Lanka, beginner surfers take a group lesson and get slammed then sucked out to sea by the 2004 tsunami.
* In California, a magazine decides to hold the first-ever and never-repeated homeless surf contest -- the prize, a shopping cart full of beer.
* On the island of Mauritius, an idiot savant gifted with virtuoso surfing talent, but cursed with a bread-eating addiction, glides gracefully on water until he gets too fat to surf.
* In Oregon, a surfer who lied ten years, claiming that his scar from a lawn-mowing accident was really from a shark attack, is dealt karmic revenge when a great white shark actually does attack him.

    Malibu surf legend Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy says of the book, "You'll love it. But some stories are not for the weak of heart, especially if you're 50-plus and still surfing."
    Diamond spent a year gathering stories from surf journalists, filmmakers, magazine editors, watermen, and everyday surfers. "Surfing is great when it all goes well, but it’s more entertaining when it all goes wrong. Some of these stories are so vivid and so well told they make my knuckles turn white with anticipation," he says.
    The collection includes stories by and about notable surfers such as: Laird Hamilton, Greg Noll, Miki Dora, Steve Pezman, Buzzy Kerbox, Andy and Bruce Irons, Bethany Hamilton, and Brad Gerlach.
    Surfing's Greatest Misadventures: Dropping In on the Unexpected, $15.95, Casagrande Press. Available in stores or online, including at surf book.

SOURCE: Casagrande Press
/NOTE TO EDITORS: Paul Diamond is available for interviews. Review copies of the book are also available./
/CONTACT: Paul Diamond, +1-206-388-3793, casagrandepress@aol.com, for Casagrande Press/



Diamond and McMahon have done well to focus on misadventures. There's something special about stories in which people find themselves in over their heads. It's a feeling familiar to any surfer, a reminder to be humble in the face of the awesome power of the ocean.
     And in this collection, there's plenty of humility to go around. Terry Gibson loses a fellow surf traveler to a shark in South Africa's Transkei. Regular-guy surfer Joe Doggett finds himself in trouble while surfing Oahu's North Shore with friend and big-wave charger Ken Bradshaw. Shawn Alladio, one of the world's most experienced personal-watercraft drivers, rescues surfer Ian Armstrong after a massive wipeout at Dungeons in South Africa.
     A surprising number of these stories go beyond a thrills-and-spills approach, penetrating deeper into the culture. Matt George's "Three Portraits of Sumatra" celebrates the surfing prowess of a new generation while also questioning whether today's traveling surfer exploits more than he explores. Ben Marcus' account of Miki Dora's antics and Steve Pezman's memories of sparring with Marines from Camp Pendleton at Trestles beach (now part of San Onofre State Beach) summon nostalgia for the old days of surfing, when the sport was the domain of beach bums and ne'er-do-wells.
     Surfing's Greatest Misadventures makes for gripping reading — as one would expect from a book with sections labeled "Sharks" and "Big Water, Big Trouble." But in the end, what's remarkable is how moving the stories can be. They stick in the memory. Just the other day, while walking back to my house after a surf session, I caught myself repeating one of the stories to a friend as if it were something I'd heard from another surfer. "By the people, for the people" indeed. -- LA Times Book Review, Antoine Wilson

Required reading right here, a future staple ofSurf Culture 101 collegiate classes. Much of surfing’senduring culture is passed along the chainof wave-riders and ocean folk through tall talesand reports from around the world. Surfing has its own historical mythology,and the intense bonding of sharing stories after a session, or during a flatspell, or while on a long slog of travel, adds to it. Surfers, some of the world’s most colorful characters, consistently find themselves in activities beyond the average worldly experience. But the best voices, stories and storytellers are more likely to be found out in the field, out on the journey, along the trail of the tropics, and if you’re not there, then you’re not tapping the source.
     Paul Diamond and Tyler McMahon did the legwork of corralling aremarkable collection of those stories and storytellers to produce Surfing’sGreatest Misadventures: Dropping In on the Unexpected. The stories are sogood this book achieves mass appeal; drama, humor, loss and gain, wisdom,failure, humility...serious literature, bro, go ahead and lose yourself.This collection features professional writers and editors mixed in withindustry types, active participants and interested bystanders, and there’s nota bad tale in the lot. Ben Marcus with Greg Noll on Miki Dora, Steve Pezmanon Trestles then and now, a few selections of Matt George’s incomparablestyle, Buzzy Kerbox, Shawn Alladio, Fernando Aguerre, Terry Gibson’sheavy-duty tour of the Transkei; shark attacks, birds exploding jet engines,navigating storm-tossed seas for 12 hours with nothing but an AM radio signal,a surf contest for homeless guys...there is a lot here, and it’s all good. Doyourself a favor and get this book, enjoy the heck out of it, and pass it on.— Owen Michael, Surfer Magazine

"A good run of stories." The Surfer's Journal

"With 30 short stories, this new release is a quick, intense read as each story draws you in and just as quickly spits you out. Good Times Weekly (Santa Cruz) Reviewer: Katie Matyus

"Misadventures. You know you love 'em. Big wave hold-downs. Shark attacks. Tsunamis. Boat wrecks. Pranks gone wrong. Just plain dumb. From the comfort of your living room, it's jolly good fun. And this collection is choc-a-block, just pouring over the brim with bad gone worse." -- Surfing Magazine

"You'll love it. But some stories are not for the weak of heart, especially if you’re 50-plus and still surfing." -- Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy

"The stories are concise, exceptionally well written, and captivating in a riveting sort of way. I was glued to this thing from start to finish. As a whole it is a respectful contribution to the sport." -- Amazon.com Reviewer

"Great collection of well-written stories (including some by surfing notables). Doesn't matter if you surf or not, the narratives will draw you in." -- Amazon.com Reviewer

"A perfect book for a surf trip or just a trip to the restroom."-- Transworld Surf Magazine

"A fun, exhilarating read that will make you cringe, make you smile, and surely make you glad that you are a surfer… Reading Surfing's Greatest Misadventures was a blast. Most of the stories are quick reads set in exotic locales with real-life lessons learned by really flawed surf-stoked maniacs, so there is something for all of us." -- Jay DiMartino, About.com

"If you have to read a book about surfing, I suggest this one is it." -- 600 mm Magazine

"Gnarly Beach Reading this Summer" -- Associated Press

"Surfers Misadventures Subject of Book Reading at Library" – Orange County Register

"Surfing's Greatest Misadventures Compiles Waves of Anecdotes" – North County Times

BBC Book Review

"Book’s Open, Surf’s Up" – Good Times Weekly

"Sri Lanka Figures" -- Sunday Observer

"Swell Story" – Press Telegram

Guest on "Surf Talk Radio" -- Santa Cruz
Guest on "IRIE Radio with Bulldog in the Morning" – Ocean City Maryland


How did you choose which stories to include?
I placed a call for submissions in surf magazines and on surf websites. I got in about 300 stories and choose about 7 of those stories. Additionally, I contact about a hundred surf journalists and asked them if they had stories that fit the bill.

How long did it take to compile the stories for this surging book?
I spent a year and half gathering and editing the stories.

Are the stories in any particular intentional order?
Initially, I had decided to put the stories in an order based on how well one flowed into the next. But later, I decided to group them by category, that is: shark attacks in one section, surf safari meltdowns in another, etc..

What is the target audience for this surfing book?
This book is meant for surfers and for non-surfers who have an interest in the sport. The stories have compelling and universal themes that anyone can enjoy without having surf experience or knowledge of its jargon.

Is there a story that is particularly powerful for you?
The three most powerful stories are:

1. "In a Place Called Transkei" by Terry Gibson. In this story Terry attempts to rescue his friend who is being attacked by a large white shark in South Africa--his friend was killed instantly. Terry spends a week attempting to repatriate his friend’s body, and contracts a potential case of rabies.
2. "Heavy Water" by Shawn Alladio is about a professional rescuer who has only one chance to save a big wave surfer from death. The surfer was paralyzed from the neck down after taking a 40-foot fall. Shawn, a 45 year-old mom and a world renowned rescuer, puts her life on the line gambling that a hydraulic current will bring the surfer to the surface. This story gets your heart pounding as you read it.
3. "Lesson Six" by Ran Elfassy chronicles his beginner surf lesson in Sri Lanka in which he and his wife get caught in the Tsunami of 2004. He gets swept out to sea, while she disappears in a raging muddy current draining off the land. The story is heartbreaking.

The stories in this collection go way beyond any rough episodes I have ever had.

What is your greatest fear while you’re in the water?
I have little fear of sharks. I should be afraid my own surfboard as I often crack my head, bang elbows or break my toes or nose on my board. But I am afraid of something else--getting caught in a current sucking out to sea, a really mean rip current, and then not having the strength to paddle back in. This has never happened to me, but in my research for the book I found two surfers (one in Washington State and one in Indonesia) who got taken miles out to sea, ironically the current took both surfers right past rescue boats who didn’t spot them. The guy in Washington spent the night in 45 degree water. These two surfers considered their stories too personal to share with the world, so the stories do not appear in the book, their stories really scared me.

Have you had an encounter with Mother Nature or a creature in the water that has made you question what you’re putting on the line while seeking a thrill?
I have had an orca surface next to me, a shark ram my thigh, a seal charge me—I considered all of this to be the fun of the ocean. Also, I’ve had my share of hold-downs where I come up and the horizon is tilted and I’m seeing stars, but I think all of that is normal. I don’t put too much on the line—I mean, I don’t surf the big waves.

I have had one incident that completely traumatized me. I was skinny dipping in a lake near Austin, Texas and a small fish bit my penis and drew blood. I will never go swimming naked again. I am dead serious. When I told the ranger what happened, he looked blankly at me then pulled out a little book to give me a ticket for swimming naked.

What would you say the message of this book is?
I have never liked to sharpen stories to a moral point. The book’s message is what you make of it.

When you teach your surf camp students to surf, what is the most important thing you teach them?
When I am teaching my surf camp students we always go through a full “Hazard Evaluation” before entering the water surfing. That is, I make them list out all the possible dangers they might encounter and how to avoid those dangers. Sun burn is the #1 most likely to happen danger while surfing. I don’t think many surfers do a “hazard evaluation” as part of their routine, and that’s one reason surfers have so many good stories.

Should readers expect more books on “Misadventures” in other sports, or are you focused on the topic of surfing?
I am working on the next edition of this surfing book. If any surfers want to submit there stories they can find all the info they need to do that at www.thesurfbook.com.


Questions for Paul:
How did you come up with the idea to write this book? (1 Minute)
What are three of the most compelling stories in this book? (2 minutes)
What is the scariest thing that ever happened to you in the water? (1 Minute)
Any advice safety advice for surfers? (1 Minute)
This book has stories about shark attacks, boats sinking, tusnamis and big wave wipeouts, are you trying to scare people from surfing? (1 minute)
Is this book of interest to people who don't surf? (30 senconds)

Questions for contributing writer Shawn Alladio:
What is like working in 60 foot waves? (1 minute)
Can tell us about the rescue that you wrote about for this book? (2 minutes)
Have you ever rescued (insert name of famous surfer here)? (1 minute)
How do you train? (30 seconds)
Is it true that you are the only female trainer in the Navy Seals program? (30 seconds)