Surfrider co-founder Tom Pratte passed away from cancer in 1994. His friend and co-founder Glenn Hening generously composed and compiled these responses. Many thanks also to Chris Blakely, Dave Moeller, and Rob Caughlan for their input and shared recollections.
Q: What was Tom's role with the Surfrider Foundation?
Given his background with a degree from Humboldt State University in Coastal Environmental Studies, Tom helped author the Articles of Incorporation and helped form the Surfrider Foundation’s first board of directors, of which he was also a member for the first three years before becoming Surfrider’s first Executive Director for another two years. In essence, Tom was surfing’s first full-time professional environmental activist who set Surfrider on its course that continues to the present day.
Tom kicked back and locked in at an undisclosed secret spot. Photo credit: Dave Moeller
Q: What influenced Tom to get into ocean and coastal conservation? Did Tom have any environmental role models he looked up to?
Tom was a surfer from Huntington Beach who saw what was happening to surf spots up and down the coast and took advantage of an opportunity to create his own coastal environmental studies major at Humboldt State University. Jacques Cousteau was an inspiration for him. Cousteau said, "We protect what we love." Tom loved the ocean.
Q: What was Tom's favorite beach or surf spot?
North side of the pier in Huntington Beach. Tom drove a 1962 VW bug with a license plate that said ‘Valella.’ These are the small jelly-like creatures that float on the sea surface and wash up periodically on the beaches of California. The word translates to "sailors on the wind." He rode a Lance Carson longboard.
Q: What was the overall sentiment or atmosphere like at Surfrider during Tom's time?
Tom and everyone involved was stoked to be active in giving back to the surf environment that had given us all so much pleasure. We felt that we were doing good deeds, and were not in it for greedy or ulterior motives. We were naive, of course, and under-funded to be sure, but hopeful nevertheless in the struggle to keep our heads above water financially while keeping our eyes on the goal of creating an organization that would give surfers a new identity in creating “a legacy of concern and involvement” (Tom’s words) about our oceans, beaches, and sealife.
Q: What may have been the highlight of Tom's Surfrider experience? Describe a particularly memorable moment or accomplishment for/with Tom?
The creation of an organization designed to support him and his work may have been the highlight of Tom’s Surfrider experience. There were any number of unique moments, including SF’s first victory protecting the shape of the wave at Malibu, followed by stopping a breakwater project in Imperial Beach, and culminating in receiving the Coastal and Ocean Management Award (a very prestigious award given to Tom for “organizing the surfing community as an effective public interest group"). Of special note might also be Tom’s visit to the Army Corps of Engineers' wave modeling facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he showed them that their plans for a project in San Diego simply would not work!
Q: What do you see as Surfrider’s greatest accomplishment during Tom’s involvement?
With increased visibility as representatives of the wave-riding community, Surfrider was becoming a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to Tom’s professionalism, and the obvious respect he had earned from the politicians and government officials, he gave Surfrider instant credibility. His approach was one of measured, fact-based information, delivered with respect and sincere interest when listening to feedback. He was an excellent representative of our fledgling organization. In fact, upon his death in 1994, in a letter written by Coastal Commission’s Executive Director, Peter Douglas, Douglas said in part, “how much he meant to California’s efforts to protect our precious coast for the benefit of current and future generations.”
Tom Pratte, armed with a sharp mind for coastal policy and a passionate heart for conservation, took on overwhelming odds and laid the groundwork for the professional and well-respected organization that Surfrider has become. Photo credit: Aaron Chang
Q: Given Tom's essential role at Surfrider during the organization's formative first six years, how do you think Surfrider’s mission and overall approach to protecting our ocean, waves, and beaches have evolved over the years?
While being the environmental director for the original foundation, it became clear that this was too much for one person to do effectively. Becoming a chapter-based grassroots organization increased Surfrider’s effectiveness while encouraging individual member participation. Being individually passionate while being a good team player is not easy to do, and over time Surfrider members and staff have come to understand that challenge — a challenge that was not consistently met during Tom’s years with Surfrider.
Q: What was the biggest challenge facing the ocean during Tom’s career and what did he do about it?
Nobody (or very few individuals) seemed to be trying to do something about all the affronts to our shoreline and surf spots. Tom decided to write his own study course at Humboldt University in ocean shoreline environment, started working with the WSA as head of their environmental program, and then helped start the Surfrider Foundation. But in addition to fighting the entities that overtly threatened the surf zone, Tom had to deal with the ignorance and complacency of the public at large, and surfers in particular.
Q: How did Tom’s career set an example for the next generation of ocean activists?
He proved one individual can have a major effect on protecting our waves and shoreline. He persevered! He was a key player in getting Surfrider up and running. He set the bar for surfer/activists. Tom helped put the Foundation on the map. The legacy he left is a testament to both him and the Surfrider Foundation.
Tom Pratte's legacy of impact and influence on the Surfrider Foundation has been substantial, for 40 years and counting.
Q: What were Tom’s hopes for Surfrider at the time?
To give a respected voice to the concerns of surfers about their environment.
Q: Anything else you would like to share about your experience with Tom Pratte?
Tom Pratte was an absolutely classic person: he carried a surfboard in the Rose Bowl parade!
I think my (Glenn’s) most memorable impression was when I met him for the first time early in the summer of 1984. I showed him my Mac computer as I presented my plan to start Surfrider, and he said, “Will I have to use that? I’d rather stick with my Royal typewriter."
Then there was the moment at our first victory in October 1984 at the hearing about the destruction of the shape of the wave at Malibu. After the public comment period ended, State Parks officials thanked everyone for their input and then adjourned the meeting. The whole room started rumbling in frustration, and I said to Tom (who knew the officials from Coastal Commission hearings), “You’d better go talk to those guys.” So he did, and suddenly the officials reversed course! They said they would take our input seriously and that we could be confident they would do what we asked them to do. I later asked Tom what he had said to them. “I told them that if they walked out of the meeting without doing what we wanted, there was going to be a riot!”
But as Rob Caughlan said (and we all agree), he wasn't always an easy guy to work with. What surfer is? Surfing is not a team sport so it attracts individualists and loners. That's why a "surfer organization" seems like an oxymoron. Yet Tom’s mission was indeed a founding cornerstone for the Surfrider Foundation, and without him, things would have turned out much differently.