Turn and Go! 50 Years of Surf Writing

by Steve Pezman

A collection of essays, profiles, interviews, reportings, and other musings from Steve Pezman’s time at Surfer magazine and The Surfer’s Journal, along with a selection of previously unpublished work, Turn and Go! is the documentation of five decades of wave riding, its icons, its landmarks, and its broader culture from the pen of TSJ’s first editor and cofounder, who didn’t just pay witness, but lived at surfing’s gravitational center.

329 pages

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long-time surf journalist and publisher re-issues some of his stories from the eras of the 1950s through the 2010s, from Southern California to Hawaii.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the pioneering filmmaker Bruce Brown, Pezman writes: "He spoke to us as the voice that could express the relaxed language of our most artful aspirations, and how we felt about it, all in a way that no one else even attempted." Similarly, Pezman in his pioneering vision has attempted to elevate surf journalism through his various journalistic pursuits, but most notably with his creation of "The Surfer's Journal" which brings long form essays and photo features to a medium usually dominated by short bursts of text and scattershots of photography. In this, TSJ resembles the defunct "Skateboard Mag" that tried to do the same in skateboarding. Unfortunately, SM went under, but I hope TSJ continues to fare better, because Pezman is a great writer, participant, and collector of anecdotes of the surf culture. Highlights were the collection of capers of surfing Trestles before Nixon took it from the Marines and made it a state park, the Greg Noll interview, and various insights on shaping and riding. Along with "Surf is Where You Find It" (eta: and "Eddie Would Go"), this is one of the surf books that sates the desire for thoughtful surf writing. It can't touch "Barbarian Days," but I don't think anything ever will.