Granny celebrates his 90th Birthday!
Feigel
By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/13/news/coastal/81207193945.txt
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Surf legend LeRoy Grannis is greeted by friends during his 90th
birthday party in Oceanside Sunday. - Bill Wechter
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A ukelele band called the Moonlight Beach Strummers entertains during
a birthday party for surf legend LeRoy Grannis in Oceanside Sunday.
- Bill Wechter
OCEANSIDE ---- At 90 years old, surf photography legend LeRoy "Granny"
Grannis no longer rides the waves, but his birthday celebration Sunday
proved he and the more than 150,000 photographs he has taken
throughout his life won't be forgotten by his fellow surfers.
About 150 people, including many who themselves were surf legends,
attended the party at the Oceanside Civic Center to celebrate with
Grannis and honor his role in surfing history.
Grannis grew up in Hermosa Beach, began surfing at age 14 and
continued hitting the waves throughout most of his life until he was
82, his friends said. While a respected surfer, Grannis gained fame
within the surfing community for his photography during a time when
many surfing greats were emerging off the coasts of Southern
California.
"It's such a classic golden time that will never happen that way
again," said Linda Benson of Solana Beach, who was the 1959 female
world surfing champion and five-time U.S. champion in the 1960s. "The
legends of today that he photographed started it all. He just captured
that golden era."
Grannis began photographing surfers in 1959 and gained recognition in
the 1960s at a time when surfing had its heyday with the rise of surf
magazines, movies and musical groups such as the Beach Boys.
Many of Grannis's friends and fellow surfers at the party, sponsored
by the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, said they had known him
for years, some practically since their very first time on a
surfboard.
Carlsbad resident Donald Takayama, a five-time U.S. surfing champion
and renowned board designer, said he first met Grannis in his native
Hawaii.
"LeRoy took a picture of me when I was a little kid surfing without
any clothes on in Hawaii," Takayama said. "LeRoy's been an inspiration
to me. (He is) one of the great surfers of yesteryear."
Grannis's love of the sport was passed on to his two sons and two
daughters, said son John Grannis of Redondo Beach, who learned to surf
at age 4.
"We'd go out early every morning. We'd go to Hawaii every year," the
younger Grannis said. "He always loved surfing, almost as much as he
loves my mom."
During Sunday's party, Grannis and his wife of almost 68 years, Katie,
wore colorful flower leis and sat at a table often holding hands while
they were swamped with fans, friends and cameras. On an outside patio,
a band played Hawaiian music.
In a brief interview, Grannis said his choice to take up surf
photography was natural for him, but he never expected to be so
recognized for it.
"I was a surfer," he said. "If I knew anything about shooting anybody,
it was surfing."
Through the years, Grannis was known up and down the coast, said Brad
Hall of Carlsbad, who has been a friend of Grannis for more than 25
years and helped organize the party.
"When he gets up, that's his wave," Hall said. "Everybody stays off
that wave. That's Granny's wave."
And even though Grannis no longer surfs, he has never lost interest in
the sport, Hall said.
"Surfing's his life," Hall said. "His first question every day when
you see him is, 'How's the surf?' "
--
"One thing I like about surfing, you don't have to win to be a winner." - Terry "Tubesteak" Tracey
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Wax-up and drop-in on Surfing's Golden Years: http://www.surfwriter.net
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Dennis
> Surf photography legend celebrates 90th birthday
>
live guy story Bob ;-)
Surfer Bob
AwoooOOO!!!