Terry "Tubesteak" Tracey, 77 - RIP

[Feigel]

http://www.surfersjournal.com/journal_entry/terry-tubesteak-tracy-1935-2012

Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy (1935-2012)

By Steve Pezman

Terry �Tubesteak� Tracy, 77, August 22, 2012, passed away of general
health issues. The original �Kahuna of Malibu,� Tube, did surf but
only as an aspect of his general beach demeanor. His uniqueness
stemmed from his sense of humor and a ribald romanticism concerning
the surfer beach life that he helped to codify. Some time in the later
half of the 1950s, Tube inhabited a shack he built of bits of lumber
and cardboard against the fence near the �pit� at Malibu. From that
position of influence he ruled the domain from the South Bay to the
Point. Partiers, capers, the great surfers, and the unusual ones, all
became his serfs at one time or another. The overstuffed chair that
belonged at the dump but instead sat there on the beach in optimum
viewing position�that was Tube. He could be found middle-trimming
across the wall at Malibu while performing a wings-spread Royal
Hawaiian, causing kooks and stars alike to scatter from his path�that
was Tube.

"'For Chrissake,' mumbled Tubesteak, 'it's a midget, a girl
midget, a goddamn gidget!'

"The girl was not amused. 'I'm not a gidget,' she yelled. 'My
name is Kathryn -- and you can keep your filthy hands off me, you
creep.'

"Tubesteak laughed. 'Hey Gidget, see you around.'"

And so it was that the Steak tagged the Gidget with her famous
nickname that inspired her father to write a book about his daughter
and for Hollywood to make a summer movie from the book. The film was
released in 1959, and from that point on the strange little pastime,
obsession, fetish, of riding waves became a national fad, morphing
into a rebellious subculture that in turn fueled an industry which
milked the life out of that strange little pastime. Steak watched it
all come about with a bemused grin.

At various times he palled around with all the players, from Miki to
Mickey, Lance to Porkchop, Moondoggie to Cooper, Kemp to Hawk,
character actors and stagehands, serving as a surf hero himself at
times. You could never quite be certain if he was truly that
brilliant, or merely sounded so. As his beach legend grew, he
naturally assumed the role of sage, author, wag, and elder statesman
with great panache. In the times that followed the golden 60s, through
the guilt-ridden 70s, into the self-flagellating 80s and beyond, Tube
would team up with Lance to performed master of ceremonies duties when
requested. More lastingly, he penned remembrances of classic surf
antics, seminal road trips, infamous parties, that when published in
The Journal became anthems to true surfer style, not the sanitized,
mass-produced versions that represent themselves as being that,
mind-you. He was once asked to judge a youth league surf contest by
Ian Cairns, a well-intended gesture. As it happened, Tube�s ideas
about what was good surfing had little to do with the arena considered
to be hot shit and thus he was retired from service - his knowing,
bemused grin still in place.

At a crucial point during that run he married Phyllis, brave of heart,
who became know as Mrs. Steak, which she accepted gracefully, and the
Steaks spawned a family of fine children who all surfed well,
exhibiting family traits of humor and flair similar to dad�s.

As the September years came on, Steak would attend his beach,
enthroned on a high-back patio chair under an umbrella, from which he
accepted visitors who approached to pay their respects. For each, he
created a sense of episode that would remain as a treasured Steak
encounter.

In recent years we saw Tube less and less at the beach, but his
emails, joyfully received, reflected a consistently wry take on the
world around him. Late this morning, as Jeff Divine came in to tell me
that Tube had passed, a bit of energy left the room.

* * * * * * * *

"Goodnight sweet prince. And flights of angels
sing thee to thy rest."

Requiescat in pace ... Semper culti in memoria

--

"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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