Surf Stars Saluted : Six Names Are Added to Sport’s Walk of Fame

Like Hollywood movie stars pressing their hands and feet into cement for posterity, some of surfing’s celebrities gathered at Huntington Beach on Thursday to see their names immortalized in granite on the Main Street sidewalk.

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Six new names were added to the Surfing Walk of Fame, which began last year as a tribute to surfing and its close relationship with Huntington Beach, which is also known as Surf City.

Those selected for the honor were Jack Hokanson, who opened Jack’s surf shop in Huntington Beach in 1957; Tom Curren, a former four-time world champion; women’s champion Margo Oberg of Kauai, Hawaii; John Severson, who founded Surfer magazine in 1960; Herbie Fletcher, an entrepreneur and local surfing hero, and Phil Edwards, credited with changing the surfing style for an entire generation.

Kelly Slater, the current world champion, got a round of friendly hoots and applause from about 200 people who surrounded a stage on the sidewalk.

Sean Johnston, 15, of Carlsbad, who was in Huntington Beach to watch the U.S. Open of Surfing and glimpse some surf stars, was glad he came.

“I’m just stoked to see all these surfers in real life,” Johnston said. “You only just see them in the [surfing] magazines. I really liked seeing Kelly Slater here.”

But Slater’s job was to introduce Curren, a charismatic if elusive surf star who, at age 31, still competes and could be regarded as surfing’s “Dr. J.”

“There are very few surfers that capture the imagination of the very smallest grommets to the pros as Tom Curren,” Slater said. And although the sport has many heroes, he said, in years to come “people will say there never was a better surfer than Tom Curren.”

Curren, who was recently living in France, acknowledged the crowd’s applause but offered only a few simple words.

He thanked Slater and the Walk of Fame Committee. He talked about growing up in nearby Newport Beach and learning to surf at Huntington when he was only 8.

“My goal is the same,” he said. “I still want to go and find a few good waves.”

Severson, who lives in Hawaii, and Edwards, who resides in Capistrano Beach but was on vacation, did not attend the ceremony.

Steve Hawk, editor of San Juan Capistrano-based Surfer magazine, praised Severson for starting the magazine 35 years ago, envisioning a publication to serve surfers and surfing photographers.

“Severson wanted surfers to read the magazine and feel as if they just got out of the water,” said Hawk, unfolding a note Severson had sent. “John wanted me to read this to you. He said, ‘Bury me in granite and walk all over me. I hope to hang ten on the granite when I visit Huntington Beach soon.’ ”

Oberg, 41, won the first of her five world surfing titles at age 14. The mother of two sons, she now operates the Margo Oberg Surfing School in Kauai and surfs daily.

She praised the Walk of Fame organizers for helping to promote the sport with granite sidewalk squares that will last a lifetime.

With the six new names, the sidewalk now has 12 Walk of Fame squares.

“You don’t see this type of activity in Hawaii. It’s missing,” Oberg said. “But the primary thing that you have here in the mainland is the money. The entire surf industry is here, and with that comes credibility. And I liked the way they ran [the] ceremony. They could have had a snob approach, but it’s an earthy approach, and I think everyone liked it.”

Fletcher, 46, is a former surfing champion who later started Astrodeck, a successful San Clemente manufacturer of neoprene surfboard grip. He also produces surf movies and has several surfing and snowboarding clothing lines.

“I’ve dedicated my life and made a good living off of surfing,” Fletcher said. “I’ve been surfing 36 years, and I know what it’s like to stay in condition and still have fun. . . . I worked really hard, and I’m glad somebody really appreciates it.”

Hokanson, 73, who is retired, sold Jack’s surf shop in 1974 to Mike Abdelmuti and Ron Abdelfattah, the current owners. When Hokanson began, there were only two surf shops in Huntington Beach, Jack’s and Gordy’s, he said. And the original shop was a far cry from the mega-surf store that Jack’s became in later years.

“When I started, it was a 50-by-150-foot shop at the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway where Huntington Surf & Sport is now,” Hokanson said. “I was the first customer for Hang Ten and [Ocean Pacific] clothing, and we used to have a saying in those days: If it wasn’t at Jack’s, you couldn’t find it.”