What do you think?
Rate this book
High Surf the Worlds Most Inspiring
Inspiring stories from an eclectic cast of surfers'tim Baker may well be the most brilliant and incisive surf writer working today, or on any givenday for the last twenty years.' worldprosurfers.com Leading surf journalist tim Baker has profiled the surfing world's most inspiring characters, encountered over two decades of surf writing, to highlight the life lessons and boundless inspiration to be gained from a lifestyle built around waveriding. From salty old surf legends to modern pro-surf stars, to surfers from all walks of life - writers, musicians, aid workers, ethicists - the common theme in all these surfers' lives is how their personal journeys have been shaped and informed by their experiences in the ocean. 'I think one of the most powerful outcomes of surfing is how it creates community and shared experiences across all sections of society. Surfing is a lingua franca of nature. Even dolphins and other sea creatures surf.' Vezen Wu, scientist 'Just the feeling of the water on you, diving and paddling, duck-diving your first wave, seeing a set come, turning around and stroking into it, that initial rush as you drop down the face, the jolts of acceleration as you go through the manoeuvres - there's nothing like it. the only thing that actually comes close to riding waves is sex.' Mark Richards, four-time world surfing champion 5% of author royalties from this book will be distributed to the following Surf Aid International; Disabled Surfers Association; Life Rolls On; Surfers Healing; Surfrider Foundation
336 pages, Paperback
First published February 29, 2008
About the author
Tim Baker
13 books63 followersTim^^^Baker
Tim Baker has contributed to GQ, Playboy, and Rolling Stone, is the author of Go Surf, and is the coauthor of Bustin' Down the Door, Occy, and Surf for Your Life.
Tim Baker has contributed to GQ, Playboy, and Rolling Stone, is the author of Go Surf, and is the coauthor of Bustin' Down the Door, Occy, and Surf for Your Life.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 27, 2018
A great read. Really insightful on the surfing lifestyle and why people get hooked on this lifestyle.
January 30, 2019
BRILLIANT BEYONDDDDDD. The fact that Tim Baker exists, wipes out every dumb surfer stereotype in the book. Read this on the beach and watch your mind change before the wave.
May 10, 2009
(A review from my blog, www.jaimalyogis.com)
There’s an exquisite exhilaration in finding a writer you can really learn something from. We spend so much time reading information that’s devoid of wisdom. We’re information junkies. Information is important, but wisdom is more important – and also more rare. I was blessed to come into contact with Tim Baker’s High Surfrecently, a very wise compilation of Baker’s profiles of the most intriguing modern surf personalities, from Kelly Slater to Tim Winton to Dave Rastovich, and many more. With my own deadlines looming, I can’t write a worthy review at the moment, but even better than anything I could say about the book, check out this short graph below from the introduction. It’s just a taste of how Baker will make you look at wave riding — and life — in an entirely new light.
“Modern quantum physics and ancient mysticism alike tell us that all life is made up of waves – light waves, sound waves, radio waves. Even physical matter, that which appears solid, is little more than a field of energy, vibrating at a certain frequency. Waves. The ocean surf we ride is the only form of energy in which wave energy can be experienced on a human scale. The waves most of us surf are, on average around head high. They move about as fast as we can run or paddle a surfboard. In many ways, they can push us close to, or beyond, the limits of our endurance, taking us to our edge, in an intensely physical, spontaneous, non-negotiable exchange. Perhaps, through our interaction with them, we can come to understand much about he nature of wave energy, how to use it to propel us forwards, how to dance amid its awesome power, and how to avoid its potentially destructive force.”
There’s an exquisite exhilaration in finding a writer you can really learn something from. We spend so much time reading information that’s devoid of wisdom. We’re information junkies. Information is important, but wisdom is more important – and also more rare. I was blessed to come into contact with Tim Baker’s High Surfrecently, a very wise compilation of Baker’s profiles of the most intriguing modern surf personalities, from Kelly Slater to Tim Winton to Dave Rastovich, and many more. With my own deadlines looming, I can’t write a worthy review at the moment, but even better than anything I could say about the book, check out this short graph below from the introduction. It’s just a taste of how Baker will make you look at wave riding — and life — in an entirely new light.
“Modern quantum physics and ancient mysticism alike tell us that all life is made up of waves – light waves, sound waves, radio waves. Even physical matter, that which appears solid, is little more than a field of energy, vibrating at a certain frequency. Waves. The ocean surf we ride is the only form of energy in which wave energy can be experienced on a human scale. The waves most of us surf are, on average around head high. They move about as fast as we can run or paddle a surfboard. In many ways, they can push us close to, or beyond, the limits of our endurance, taking us to our edge, in an intensely physical, spontaneous, non-negotiable exchange. Perhaps, through our interaction with them, we can come to understand much about he nature of wave energy, how to use it to propel us forwards, how to dance amid its awesome power, and how to avoid its potentially destructive force.”
April 5, 2014
A surfing book for the soul. This one is a meditation on the joys and consciousness-expanding benefits of surfing the ocean. Baker has cobbled together dozens of portraits of pioneering surfers from his two decades of surf reporting around the globe. The one simple question he puts to them all--"What have you learned through surfing?"--leads to some deeply profound explanations of the physical/spiritual connection that binds every surfer to the water and the pursuit of more waves.
December 12, 2010
Great stories, inspiring ideas, could happily have kept reading for another 300 pages.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews