WHEN THE READING LIGHT WENT ON

Sam George, 43, editor of Surfer magazine in San Juan Capistrano, a former professional surfer and author of two books on the sport:

I moved to Europe when I was in first grade. My father was in the Navy, in the Mediterranean fleet. I went to a school for English-speaking children in Cannes, France. But to ensure that we stayed enthusiastic, my mother, who was an elementary school teacher, bought a kids’ encyclopedia set called the Book of Knowledge. It included abridged versions of literature and poetry. I loved the adventure accounts. Being one of the few English-speaking kids in town, I lived in that book.

In many ways, that book fostered in me a sense of imagination and adventure. There was no way I was going to live a conventional civilian life. I developed a romantic disorder of sorts. I thought that was the way you were supposed to live. It is no wonder I developed the lifestyle I did--the peripatetic wandering surfer.

We eventually moved back to the United States and bounced from Maine to El Centro near the Mexican border. Then, when I was 12, my dad was transferred to Pearl Harbor.

The first thing I did when I found out was go to the library and check out books on Hawaii. I saw the first image I had ever seen of surfing. I took an academic approach to the sport from the start.

When I arrived in Hawaii, I found a book called “Surfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport,” by two University of Hawaii anthropologists named Ben Finney and James Houston. There I was, 12 years old, checking out that book and steeping myself in ancient lore and history.

I guess it was inevitable that I would grow up to publish books on surfing and be the editor of a magazine on surfing.

One of the funniest things you learn here at the magazine is the stereotype of surfers--that they don’t read. One thing I’ve learned is that surfers are voracious readers. Our sport is an ancient sport of storytellers. Surfing is based on legend and lore and heroes. In many ways, it’s no wonder that a little kid who loved to read abridged versions of Greek epics, who loved Ulysses, fell into the culture of surfing.