Top: Excerpt from Cactus by Christo Read depicting the Ceduna Boys with one of the original surf chasers, 1962. Middle: SA surf legend, Jimmy Miller slides left. Bottom: Boomer Beach article, Surfabout magazine 1962.
Like Christo’s first two books, Surf City will be self-published and designed in similar scrapbook style, featuring worn photographs, newspaper clippings and other documents scattered with text. ‘If I’m gonna publish a book, I want it to be a work of art, really, in today’s digital world,’ he says. ‘These tactile things are very valuable for the soul.’ I ask Christo why it’ll only cover the fifties to the late-seventies, and he explains how the period – think The Beatles, drugs, the Vietnam War and Don Dunstan – heavily influenced him, and that the following years saw a commercialisation of surfing that clashed with his free surfing ethos. Ironically, many of today’s surfers try to emulate the look and lifestyles of the surf chasers and their ilk, and Christo’s pleased more and more are turning to the surfboard shapes and riding styles of the past. 24
Christo’s still surfing, though not often locally. We joke about the southern surfer’s plight – how the South Coast continues to frustrate with its inability to produce good waves consistently, and how we’re still clocking countless kilometres in our cars. Before I leave, he shows me the board he’s currently riding – a gorgeous new single fin heavily inspired by the Surf City era’s boards. ‘Magnificent objects,’ he says, rubbing his hand over the deck. Just like his books, I think. Christo is seeking photos, footage and stories from the era for potential publication in Surf City. Submissions: info@cactussurfingjournals.com
