Surfer Corky Carroll Catches Wave of Fame

If it’s daylight and you’re looking for Corky Carroll, you’d better head to the beach. He’s had a permanent suntan since he was 4 years old. That’s about his age when he first wandered to the sand near Sunset Beach and begged his way onto a surfboard ride.

Carroll, now 48 and of Huntington Beach, went on to win five national surfingchampionships and three international titles. When the Beach Boys recorded “Surfin’ Safari” in 1962 (“At Huntington and Malibu they’re shootin’ the pier”) they must have had Corky Carroll in mind.

“I’ve surfed all over the world,” said Carroll. “When you love it as much as I do, you’ll fly 32 hours just to go 12 hours by bus so you can go five hours by boat just to get to a big wave.” He adds with a contagious laugh, “and when you get there you’ve got to worry about tree snakes and tigers on the beach.”

That was a surfing safari to Indonesia he was talking about. His other favorite spots include the Fiji islands, Hawaii and Peru. Carroll’s accomplishments and dedication to the sport are worthy of special recognition. And that’s what he’s about to get.

Carroll is one of five to be inducted on Aug. 8 at the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. I called to ask him what it meant to him. Meet me at the beach, was his reply. Carroll surfs almost every day. But right now he’s busy helping others with the sport. He’s operating, along with partner Rick Walker, the Corky Carroll Summer Surf Camp at Bolsa Chica State Beach. This is its first year.

“I don’t know why I didn’t do this before; it’s been great,” Carroll said as he watched half his class take to the water. The other half was meeting with a marine biologist the partners had hired to enhance the class. Carroll said it was exciting to see the enthusiasm of new surfers, of any age: “We had one fellow, 65 years old, he was camping nearby and came over to check us out. We signed him up and he’s been having a blast. He probably never would have touched a surfboard if he hadn’t seen us.”

Carroll still competes even though he’s pushing 50. Not long ago he flew to Florida for a surfing competition, won its masters division (for 35 and older) and took second in the open division. But I made a mistake assuming he still has that fire to compete.

“Not really,” Carroll said. “About 90% of competitive surfing is catching the best waves. That means a lot of time out there paddling to get into position. That’s just a lot of work, and hey, who needs it? Not me.”

Carroll’s career has included songwriting, recording, commercials (he’s still working for Ocean Spray) and performing. You can catch his act at local clubs, like Captain Jack’s in Sunset Beach or the Hula Grill in Huntington Beach. He’s also busy with his family. His 28-year-old son, Clint Carroll, is a professional surfer. His 4-year-old daughter Kasey is already surfing. And Carroll and his wife, Pam, have another child on the way. Carroll figures, boy or girl, this one will surf too.

“There’s a freedom to surfing you just don’t find anywhere else,” Carroll explained to me. “You’re out there, and the water is moving, your board is moving, you’re moving, and suddenly you make it all come together.”

And he did have something to say about the honor of being chosen for the Walk of Fame. “I’m stoked about it. It’s going to be a real kick.”

The Duke Stops Here: Spare me any more self-plaudits from the O.J. Simpson dream team of lawyers. But I actually found some worthwhile advice from a great Orange County resident in reading Simpson lawyer Robert L. Shapiro’s “The Search for Justice.”

Simpson friend Robert Kardashian was worried about his speaking ability before his public reading of O.J.’s don’t-feel-sorry-for-me letter prior to the famous Bronco chase. Shapiro says he related to Kardashian what Jack Nicholson once told him--that the best advice he ever got on acting came from the late John Wayne (Newport Beach’s most famous resident): “Speak low, and speak slow.”

Further John Wayne reference in the book: Shapiro says fellow Simpson attorney F. Lee Bailey had objected to adding frontier style lawyer Gerry Spence to the dream team: “He had never liked Spence and disparagingly referred to him as John Wayne.” Too bad Spence wasn’t the prosecutor. That side could have used the Duke.

Around the Town: The August issue of Life magazine takes a dig at California’s problems, including Orange County’s bankruptcy. . . .

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Orange County is one of those programs where volunteers come from the heart-of-gold crowd. Unfortunately, there aren’t quite enough of them to go around these days. Call (714) 544-7773 if you’d like to volunteer. It’s got 150 children on a waiting list to be matched with a volunteer. . . .

Friends of ours from Huntington Beach often thought of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas as a second home. If you’re among those saddened by plans to demolish the old mob joint on the Strip, you might be interested in the auction to be held there July 30-31. More than 7,000 Sands items will be auctioned off, and not just its slot machines and roulette tables. It’s selling many of its 720 rooms and suites. That’s right--the whole room. So if you’d like to turn your living room into a souped up Holiday Inn. . . .

When I wrote last week about a traffic accident at Harbor and Lampson in which neither driver had insurance, I mistakenly said it occurred in Anaheim. Several readers--including someone from the office of the Anaheim police chief--called to correct me: It happened in Garden Grove.

Wrap-Up: Other inductees at the Aug. 8 ceremony at the Surfing Walk of Fame (corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach): Greg Noll, Nat Young, Bud Browne and Rell Sunn.

Noll, who grew up in Hermosa Beach, is reported to have ridden the largest wave ever in Hawaii--a 30-foot wall of water. Young is an Australian surf champion. Sunn is considered by many to be Hawaii’s top woman professional in the sport. Browne of Costa Mesa, who turned 84 this month, is credited with some of the most famous surf films ever made, many of them long before the sport’s popularity boomed.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by call-ing the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail tojerry.hicks@latimes.com