Cofounder of Santa Barbara Montessori School, JIM FITZPATRICK built his first skateboard in 1957 and grew up surfing Topanga Beach, mentored by the legendary Miki Dora and Surf Guide magazine editor Bill Cleary. Fitzpatrick worked in promotions at Powell•Peralta and helped launch the International Association of Skateboard Companies, which set up a grassroots campaign to build public skate parks. In 1997, armed with thousands of supportive letters, he lobbied state legislators. “It was classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” Fitzpatrick remembers. Shortly thereafter, lawmakers passed a bill that opened the floodgates for skate park construction, including Santa Barbara’s Skaters Point.
A handful of Santa Barbara’s finest enjoy a rare get-together on the bluff above backside Rincon. OPPOSITE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Surf-brand fashion designer SHAWN STUSSY, former Santa Barbara Country Surf Club president ANDY NEUMANN, Surf Happens surf school founder CHRIS KEET, surfboard shaper RENNY YATER, 1983 women’s world champion KIM MEARIG, and 1988 world amateur champion CHRIS BROWN. While CONNER COFFIN (pictured middle left), 21, expresses the Curren-esque style of the classically trained, kid brother PARKER COFFIN (pictured far left), 19, displays the precise artistry of a master technician. Both are described as humble and great fans of good food, which they actively seek out while lapping the planet on surf trips. Check out their Young Wise Tails blog. The growing crowd surrounding Skater’s Point didn’t know it at the time, but Saturday, September 10, 2005, marked a cool moment in Santa Barbara’s long and deeply woven history of surfing and skateboarding. That’s when local LAKEY PETERSON, 10 at the time, took first place in the 10 to 15-year-old girls division at the city’s annual skate contest. She did it again in 2006. These days, the 20-year-old Peterson (pictured near left)—who rode waves when she was 5 and picked up skateboarding at 8—is touring with the best competitive surfers on the planet. Last year, she finished the season ranked sixth in the world. P H OTO G R A P H S : O P P O S I T E FA R L E F T, J I M K N I G H T ; G E O R G E G R E E N O U G H , S T E V E B I S S E L L ; G R O U P P O R T R A I T, B R A N D E N A R R OYA N ; J I M F I T Z PAT R I C K , BRUCE BERNSTEIN.
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