BOOK REVIEW: JOHN SEVERSON'S "SURF"

SURFER founder chronicles his many and varied contributions to our sport

By Andrew Lewis
  • Published:October 7, 2014
  • Views:6,400
Before she edits or writes her first feature, the beginning editor at both SURFER and Surfing magazines is asked to get acquainted with the archives. Each volume used to sit on a metal shelf—the kind you’d expect to find in a laboratory—inside generic 3-inch binders; each issue sheathed in plastic.
There is a lot to take in, from Kelly, Andy and Anderson, to Naughton, Reed and Murphy. In the last binder, and four years before the birth of Surfing, there is The Surfer, Vol. 1 No. 1, published in January 1960. Here, the young editor has peeled down to the nucleus of a legacy she is now a part of, and the nucleus’ name is John Severson.

Severson, 80, father of the American surf magazine, has been an enigmatic force in recent decades—few appearances at industry functions, or quotes in the media; no tell-all memoir. It’s not that he’s been hiding. Since selling SURFER in 1971 (the “The” was dropped in ’61) for an undisclosed amount, Severson has been living a life of perfect leisure at Honokeana Cove, Maui. Gerry Lopez claims Severson’s golden age started at age 12 and hasn’t stopped. You see, Severson is no ghost—rather, he is man who waits to do it right.

And the wait is over. Released in July, John Severson’s SURF is a classic for anyone, surfer or not, who appreciates both a figure who follows dreams and a nice day at the beach. The 12.5 x 9.75 coffee table hardcover is cleanly stitched together by a candid interview-cum-biography and reproductions of Severson’s most iconic frame-grabs, art, and SURFER covers. Drew Kampion, SURFER editor from 1968-72, credits his old friend and boss with creating a publication that “galvanized an insouciant culture into a visionary expedition into the full spectrum of creative possibilities.”


“I’d like to feel that I’ve done something worthwhile for surfing.”
-- John Severson
Like fellow surf legend Hobie Alter, Severson’s father decided to move the family from inland Southern California to the coast when Severson was just a boy. The ocean, as it often does to the transplanted inlander, had a profound effect. Where Alter merged his love of surfing with engineering, Severson merged his with the canvas. His work as a Master’s art student at Long Beach State was already exceptional, but coursed with a young artist’s imitation of his idols—in Severson’s case it was Picasso and Gauguin.

His drafting into the Army and subsequent stationing on Oahu in 1956 changed all that. The energy and precision of the wave-riding he was doing and filming, mainly on the North Shore and Makaha with guys like Pat Curren, Buzzy Trent and Fred Van Dyke, contorted his abstractionist’s heart, and what emerged from his hands was the canon we all know today as “surf art.”


Back in California in 1960, Severson, then 26, saw an opportunity to make some extra cash off his latest surf film, Surf Safari, by selling photos to his audiences. He put together a look-book of 50 images, called it The Surfer, dropped $3K for 10,000 copies and commenced having “serious doubts and a lot of anxiety.” Severson’s brother made the first delivery to the South Bay. “He couldn’t get into Hap Jacob’s [surf] shop because of a riot,” Severson says. “I was sinking until he added, ‘They’re rioting to get The Surfer!’”

While SURF chronicles Severson’s 11-year tenure as SURFER’s publisher, it also takes the time to highlight Severson’s seventh and final film, his 1970 16 and 35mm color masterpiece, Pacific Vibrations, arguably the first surf movie with undertones of environmental activism. “I read Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), and went to a lecture by Jacques Cousteau,” says Severson. “[Pacific Vibrations] was meant to be an homage to the ocean and surfing, and an environmental wake-up call . . . We wanted surfers to know that their involvement could make a difference.”

Today, Severson continues living the quiet life on Maui, painting as vigorously and masterfully as ever—his most recent work ostensibly reminiscent of his earliest as a student at Long Beach State, though it is textured with the individualism and realism of an old hand.

“I’d like to feel that I’ve done something worthwhile for surfing,” Severson says. “If you’re working in the surf industry, you might consider that I helped make that possible. If you’re an artist or photographer, perhaps I made a difference. If you’re out on a crowded day, and can’t get a wave, you might blame me, but then again, maybe you’d be somewhere else. Maybe I influenced you in a career that gave you time to surf, or influenced you to get involved in environmental pursuits. But if I never said a word - or shot or painted a picture - I wonder...”

Published by Puka Puka/Damiani
Edited and designed by Nathan Howe
Foreword by Gerry Lopez
Interview by Nathan Howe
Afterword by Drew Kampion

SURF can be purchased here for Asian and European audiences and here for American audiences.

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Dana Keith 10/10/2014 12:24 PM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

Was actually called Surf Guide. My father Skip was GM and mom typed the interviews on old IBM. Have 4 old copies from early 60's

Dennis McClure 10/10/2014 12:01 PM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

John, how did you ever wind-up getting stationed in Hawaii on the first Army Surf Team with Jamma Kekai, after getting drafted? Was this one of your highly creative ideas also? I would like to see a packaged, purchase deal of all your movies for the surfing public along with a book of all your surfing art to include those famous surf movie posters, we all use to snatch and hang on our walls. I still remember you selling your water color paintings in Waikiki on Kalakaua Ave.,to get lunch money.

Steve Dexter 10/09/2014 10:43 AM

Since I stood up on a surfboard my first time in 1960 my life was forever changed. Surfing then, with all its beatniks,drop-outs and misfits got some identity and unity when Surfer Magazine arrived. We couldn't wait for the next issue to hit. All surfers, photographers and surf mag editors owe Severson a debt of gratitude. Thanks so much for all inspiration; your art, photos, the mag and a big bowl of awareness. Pacific Vibrations was ground breaking.

MichaelJ 10/08/2014 06:42 PM

You can also get the book at Amazon. The link is to a UK site.

srfmstr 10/08/2014 04:39 PM

The photo/poster of Lopez at Ala Moana was for my generation the definitive image that permanently established short board supremacy. It also firmly fixed Lopez in the pantheon of radical, progressive surfers, not just a tube rider. Pacific Vibrations captures surfing at the apex of the short board revolution. Severson saw the revolution coming, encouraged it by chronicling it, helping define surfing what it is today.

Peter Easterling 10/08/2014 04:06 PM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

John Severson came to Kailua Intermediate in 1964 or 65 to show and narrate one of his surf movies. The gremmies (as they were known at the time) were flipping bottle caps (as gremmies did at the time). John, dressed in a jacket and tie, stopped the movie and told us if the cap flipping continued he would pack up the movie and leave. It stopped. John is a class act and I am so grateful his vision positively influenced my entire life.

Lance Pearl 10/08/2014 02:42 PM

To say his effect on my life has been profound would be an understatement.

Jon Stein 10/08/2014 01:45 PM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

John was my film teacher at USIU on Maui in 1973. If I had to pick one person in my life who has shaped me into the person I am today it would be him. We took many drives around Maui collecting abandoned trees for his property and many of the adventures ended up talking late into the night in his hand made hot tub. Thank you John - I think of you ofter and am truely blessed to have known ya.

Barry Haun 10/08/2014 12:01 PM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name   ** EDITOR'S PICK

One of the first things I did when I started at Surfing Heritage was to go through every back issue of Surfer (and Surfing), a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Thank you to Severson and all who followed who helped keep us sane (well maybe not entirely) during those flat spells!

Jack Martin 10/08/2014 11:47 AM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

Although we've never met we go way back, John and I. I started surfing in 1961 and John along with Bruce Brown, Dewey Weber, Bing Copeland, and Hap Jacobs set me on the lifelong path that I've taken. Thank you Mr. Severson, I look forward to getting a copy of your new book.

Don OMalley 10/08/2014 11:26 AM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

So ,,,How do I buy the book?

Editor reply:
There is a link to buy at the very last line of the story. Good luck!

RG 10/08/2014 11:00 AM

Grew up reading – and viewing – my older brother's SURFER pile, which I added to later with my own subscription. It's pretty easy to say that without that pile I wouldn't be me. Much obliged, Mr. Severson.

Jeffery Barnes 10/08/2014 09:42 AM

Many thanks to John Severson for putting my feet on a path that took me to many places to meet lots of great people. And most of them surfed. Oddly enough, I now live almost directly across the street from the building in San Diego where I bought my first issue of "The Surfer." I have to grin every time I go by.

Mike Shellman 10/08/2014 09:13 AM   * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

I had the great privilege of meeting Mr. Severson at his beautiful home and studio in Maui recently. He is a kind and gracious man and his contribution to surfing significantly changed the lives of all surfers, young and old, then and now. He made surfing more fun. His magazine, his photography and amazing artwork helped bring us all...together, into a single community. Thank you, John Severson. Aloha.

jaime from Perú 10/08/2014 08:36 AM

As thousands of people my first contact with surfing was SURFER mag , from then I start to surf and now - as I am 60 years young- I am still surfing some days , so Mr. Severson thanks for everything ( except for the crowded days of course).........j

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