Surfrider Foundation, MAKING WAVES, December 2003

MAKING WAVES, December 2003 issue: Table of Contents

Make a Meaningful Gift to our Ocean

by Kim Novick

As the end of 2003 approaches, we hope you will consider supporting the work of the Surfrider Foundation when you make your year-end contributions. 2003 reigned in many new challenges for our ocean environment and still many victories. Your philanthropic spirit and activism has been paramount in achieving these victories, and we appreciate your continued support through these challenging economic times.

footprint

In 2003, our grassroots network fought for, and in an overwhelming amount of cases, won victories for their local beaches. The following is a small sampling of some issues our chapters addressed in 2003 and you can read about these cases in more detail when you receive your final appeal this year. Our chapters addressed beach access in Texas, water quality in Oregon, water pollution in Orange County, California, wave access in Asbury Park, New Jersey, wave and ocean-threatening over development in Gaviota, California, beach fill in New York City, and ocean environment destruction in RincÑn, Puerto Rico.

The final appeal this year is focused on supporting our network of 60 chapters and empowering our grassroots activists to achieve more victories for our oceans, waves and beaches. This year, more than ever, we need your support. When you receive your letter from us, please read about our 2003 victories, our plans for 2004 and consider making a final year-end gift to the Surfrider Foundation. Your donation will empower the Surfrider Foundation to continue to confront issues of beach access, water pollution, unsound and excessive development, beach loss and many critical issues that affect your community and your beach's future. Included in your letter is a list of New Year's Resolutions. Please make a commitment to yourself, if you haven't already, to choose one or more of the New Year's Resolutions to help protect our precious ocean environment.

All gifts to the Surfrider Foundation are fully tax deductible and 86% of every dollar goes directly to our beaches. Last year, our activists donated $1,962,000 worth of volunteer hours directly to coastal conservation. They administered over 6,000 individual water-quality tests and introduced our Respect the Beach program to 1,500 students across the United States. With an all time high of 37,500 members, contributions to the Surfrider Foundation are the most leveraged dollar around to protect the ocean environment.

We thank you for your continued support. Together, your individual ocean minded habits, time, and dollars are making a real difference in the health of our oceans, waves and beaches. Feel proud that you are part of the Surfrider Foundation's movement to change our nation's ocean ethic. With your help, the new year will reign in meaningful victories for our nation's oceans, waves and beaches!

BOOK REVIEW

Between the Lines

by Matt McClain

Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero
Stuart Homes Coleman, Mind Raising Press, 271 pgs.

An Oahu chapter member, Stuart Holmes Coleman has written an account of the life and times of legendary waterman Eddie Aikau, with the cooperation of the Aikau family, and the perspective of an insider. The author is working with Surfider chapters to raise money from book signings.

Eddie Would Go cover

The story of Eddie Aikau has developed into legend, a neo-mythic part of Hawaiian culture. Viewed as the quintessential waterman, Eddie's spirit, in life and in death, is a fierce source of pride among native Hawaiians. His memory is honored by a memorial at Waimea Beach Park, as well as by the hundreds of friends and surfers who gather each year for the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.

In his book, Eddie Would Go, Stuart Coleman provides us with a glimpse into the life of the man behind the legend. With the help of Aikau's family and friends, Coleman leads us on a journey retracing Eddie's life, from his early childhood life on Maui, to his adventures in young adulthood, to his life as one of the North Shore's memorable heroes. Along the way, we are offered unique insights into the man, including Eddie's pain and feelings of isolation after an encounter with racism at the 1971 Gunston 500 contest in South Africa, his profound grief at the loss of his brother Gerald, and his unshakable feeling of foreboding as he set sail on the Hokule'a.

Along with the telling of Eddie's life, Coleman succeeds in capturing the fabric of Hawaiian life. Like the environment, native culture is often trampled over in name of "progress." The book alludes to both these issues, as well as the native Hawaiian's response in aggressively moving to reclaim their culture.

Perhaps nowhere is Coleman's writing better than in his description of the Aikau family residence, located within the walls of a Chinese graveyard, which functions throughout the book as the locus of Eddie's activities and emotionsÆÆso much so that it becomes a character in itself.

Eddie Would Go is a great read for surfers and non-surfers alike. Eddie's exploits in big surf make for hair raising, page turning reading. Likewise, the account of his final trip to sea and his family's struggling to come to grips with his loss is heartbreaking. Ultimately the book succeeds in helping us to see the man behind the legend and appreciate the life of one of Hawaii's favorite sons.

In conjunction with his travel schedule, Mr Coleman continues to do book signing events for our chapters, with a portion of the proceeds earmarked directly for ocean protection at the chapter level. He can be contacted through http://www.eddiewouldgo.com