The Word on Surfing

I was shocked at Tony Perry’s review of my new book, “The Surfin’ary: A Dictionary of Surfing Terms and Surfspeak,” in his Sept. 6 column, “San Diego At Large.” The headline referred to it as a “Radical Ruse,” implying that I am trying to deceive or trick people by making up the words in the book.

I am a native California surfer with a degree in cultural geography from UC Berkeley. During the six years I spent researching the book, I surfed all over the world and compiled over 3,000 surfing terms. Some of the terms, like “stoked,” “gnarly” and “radical” have a well-established history of usage and have been well-documented among surfers. Other words, such as “hakenveesmo,” are regional in scope and may or may not spread into the mainstream. “The Surfin’ary” documents a rich and diverse subculture and has received nothing but high praises from the media, general public and global surfing community.

TREVOR CRALLE, Santa Cruz