GOLDEN DAZE is a compelling memoir of Australian surfing through a year in the life of Australia's top surfers.
Starting in 1963, renowned surfing journalist Sean Doherty charts the history of surfing through the stories of Surfing Australia's Hall of Fame inductees. Taking a year and a surfer at a time, he will reveal what they did, where they surfed and their life events in fascinating depth and detail. Illustrated with unpublished images from the surfers' private collections, these stories also give a vivid sense of the shifting world around them, particularly in the ever-changing realm of surfing.
GOLDEN DAZE opens in 1963 with Peter Troy jumping ship in Melbourne with a surfboard under his arm, embarking on his fabled surfing odyssey that saw him introducing surfing to Brazil, being crowned European champion, hitching alone across the Kalahari Desert and watching an unknown band from Liverpool called the Beatles. 1964 is Midget Farrelly's story of winning the first world title on home sand at Manly Beach. In 1969 Wayne Lynch goes down the coast, avoiding the Vietnam draft. And in 1971, Alby Falzon stumbles upon the island of Bali while shooting his humble surf movie MORNING OF THE EARTH.
The book brings to life the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and noughties through the eyes of the Australian surfers who defined them best, ending today with stories of potential Hall of Famers, contemporary stars like Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Tyler Wright.
Part journal, part biography, part surf culture memoir, GOLDEN DAZE gives a fascinating insight into Australian surfing and what makes it so unique.