OG Valley Kook
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:05 pmA little bit of ink has been spilled on the early days of Oregon surfing-- Dana Williams discovering Seaside, adventures of the Agate Beach Surf Club, groovy times at the Cowabunga Longboard Classic-- but when it comes to the OG valley kooks, not much info is publicly available. And why would there be? LOCALS ONLY!
But when looking back at where Oregon surfing began, the statement of record points to Indian Beach 1962*. It remains somewhat vague who was actually surfing there, except for one guy I know of and that's literally Homer Simpson.
Or more specifically, Homer Groening-- filmmaker, ad man, PDX weirdo, and inspiration for his son, Matt's, classic cartoon goofball. During a retrospective of Homer G's films a few years back, Matt and his sister, Lisa, spoke publicly about their father's love of water sports and reminisced that he claimed to be among the first to surf Ecola State Park back in the early 60's. From what I recall, Homer picked up surfing while traveling in warmer climates-- Hawaii, I think-- and thought he'd give it a go closer to home. Surfing ended up a significant part of Homer's life and he incorporated it into a few of his films, as can be seen below:
"A Study in Wet"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfR3wnb3Cjc
"Basic Brown, Basic Blue"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48YJYrjVgo
(surfing at about 8 minute mark)
https://surferart.com/press/jantzen/
I wish there was a little more info about Homer's surfing on the public record, but given the timeline, there may be some truth to his claim that he pioneered surfing on the North Coast and may have been among the first wave of Oregon surfers as well. If anything, he was clearly the OG valley kook and one inclined to film, so perhaps there's some classic Oregon surf footy collecting dust somewhere in the Groening family archives.
*This is according to Scott Blackman's book, Oregon Surfing North Coast -- first sentence as a matter of fact. There was some float craft experimentation going on in Newport way earlier, but he traces the modern incarnation of surfing to Indian, then to Agate and Seaside within the next few years.
But when looking back at where Oregon surfing began, the statement of record points to Indian Beach 1962*. It remains somewhat vague who was actually surfing there, except for one guy I know of and that's literally Homer Simpson.
Or more specifically, Homer Groening-- filmmaker, ad man, PDX weirdo, and inspiration for his son, Matt's, classic cartoon goofball. During a retrospective of Homer G's films a few years back, Matt and his sister, Lisa, spoke publicly about their father's love of water sports and reminisced that he claimed to be among the first to surf Ecola State Park back in the early 60's. From what I recall, Homer picked up surfing while traveling in warmer climates-- Hawaii, I think-- and thought he'd give it a go closer to home. Surfing ended up a significant part of Homer's life and he incorporated it into a few of his films, as can be seen below:
"A Study in Wet"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfR3wnb3Cjc
"Basic Brown, Basic Blue"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48YJYrjVgo
(surfing at about 8 minute mark)
https://surferart.com/press/jantzen/
I wish there was a little more info about Homer's surfing on the public record, but given the timeline, there may be some truth to his claim that he pioneered surfing on the North Coast and may have been among the first wave of Oregon surfers as well. If anything, he was clearly the OG valley kook and one inclined to film, so perhaps there's some classic Oregon surf footy collecting dust somewhere in the Groening family archives.
*This is according to Scott Blackman's book, Oregon Surfing North Coast -- first sentence as a matter of fact. There was some float craft experimentation going on in Newport way earlier, but he traces the modern incarnation of surfing to Indian, then to Agate and Seaside within the next few years.