Some cool dude with the name of Joseph Skipper Funderburg was signing his new book "Surfing On The Cape Fear Coast" down by Tower 7 and he was able to give
us a few minutes to talk about his adventures and what inspired him to put this book together. From what we can tell the guy is old school cool and grew up on the Cape Fear Coast. His bio reads like the Wrightsville Beach fantasy upbringing from which many would find a very rich source iof nformation about the island.The bio also describes him as a "worldwide surfer and waterman with thirty years of sea duty under his belt." It goes on to describe his reasons for writing the book, which includes: " Pride in my home; Everyone watches the thrill that riding a one foot wave brings to the novice surfer and wishes he could experience that feeling; Surfers are in tune with nature because it provides us with our needs."
The book is full-color and of very high quality. It is the perfect coffee table book and an excellent reference book for anyone interested in surfing and/or the history of Wrightsville Beach. It reenforces the long held notion that this is an awesome place to live with great Funderburg family photos and other shots we have not seen anywhere else.
The book begins with a timeline of the history of surfing that ends up directly dove-tailing into surfing as relates to the Cape Fear Coast only. That is where we learned that Mark Twain tried his hand at surfing and even wrote about it. Got us there. We did not know that.
Another great thing that stuck out was the old advertisements from the 60's including one for a showing at the old Crest movie theater for the movie Endless Summer. There's also another one for something called the "sidewalk surfboard" that is essentially today's long board skateboard. The description says, "Who needs an ocean." The price was $7.49.
There's also a handy map of the best surfing spots from Topsail Beach Island to Sunset Beach, tons of old photos of wooden boards and of people surfing along the coast, and plenty of profiles on the pivotal players in the history of local surfing.
The book is available online at http://www.carolinabeach.net/funderburg1.html (just scroll down on their page for ordering info) and at Barnes and Noble and a few other places that are also listed on the site.
Mr. Fuderburg will have another book signing at NOFO, across the bridge, sometime in July. Stay tuned, and don't miss the opportunity to hear about a rich history we all share.
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