The Lost Coast

by Drew Kampion, Jeff Peterson (Illustrator)

Surfers read the patterns of the sea like others read a book. For them, the organization of swells and currents and the curling folds of the waves are elements of a natural language, as coherent in structure and meaning as any taught in school.
Each of the eighteen stories in this collection is a raw glimpse of surf life-from sliding into cold, stiff neoprene to experiencing the ecstasy of the Pure Art of Surfing. Most previously published in magazines over the past thirty-five years, the stories in this collection capture the movement, mythology, fantasy, and philosophy of surf life and culture on the sweet and ragged wild edge of beauty.

Hardcover

First published November 6, 1997

About the author

Drew Kampion is a former editor of SURFER (1968-72), SURFING (1973-82), WIND SURF (1982-89), and WIND TRACKS (1996-99) magazines. He was Editorial Director for the Patagonia clothing company (1990-91) and Associate Editor for NEW AGE JOURNAL (1992). He founded, published, and edited the ISLAND INDEPENDENT (1993-96), an award-winning “bioregional magazine in newsprint,” serving the “maritime rainshadow” islands of Washington State. For his work with the INDEPENDENT, he received first prize for editing a periodical with a circulation under 50,000. Until recently, Drew was the American Editor of THE SURFER'S PATH, world’s first “green” surf magazine. His episodic parody, THE TEACHINGS OF DON REDONDO: A SURFER’S WAY OF KNOWLEDGE (as illustrated by artist Tom Threinen) was a regular feature of the magazine.

Drew is the author of THE BOOK OF WAVES (1989), THE ART OF CHRISTIAN RIESE LASSEN (1991), STOKED: A HISTORY OF SURF CULTURE (1997, revised 2003), THE WAY OF THE SURFER (2003), THE LOST COAST (2004), WAVES: FROM SURFING TO TSUNAMI (2005), DORA LIVES: THE AUTHORIZED STORY OF MIKI DORA (2005), and GREG NOLL: THE ART OF THE SURFBOARD (2007). He was also editor of THE STORMRIDER GUIDE: NORTH AMERICA (2002).

He is currently assisting Fernando Aguerre with his autobiography, SURF, SEX AND SANDALS: THE LATIN ART OF MIXING BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE and is at work on completing the story of Jack O’Neill, the inventor of the modern surfing wetsuit, JACK O’NEILL: IT’S ALWAYS SUMMER ON THE INSIDE.

Married with two children, Drew lives on an island in Washington State.