Rusty preisendorfer biography of michael lewis

O f course I knew who Rusty was. Everybody did. He was imposing, standing 6-foot-4 and clocking in at a trim We surfed together occasionally at Windansea, where he kept company with heavies like Mike Croteau.

Rusty preisendorfer biography of michael lewis: The US Open of Surfing

I went in to look at a used Skip Frye. The shop was like a small chapel of some religious cult, with surfboards and beachwear overseen by a crew of hot young locals, Rusty among them. Rusty shook his head, impassive as a gun turret. The simplicity of the gesture ended the transaction on the spot. Rusty seemed like the embodiment of self-assuredness—a quiet giant who, in spite of avoiding the spotlight, somehow stood out.

It was as though he alone knew what was to come. There are hundreds of surfboard shapers on the West Coast. It remains a labor of love that rarely breaks even.