I remember as a grommet and my idols were Tom Curren and I liked the style of Martin Potter but there was a guy, my age who was really kicking butt in surfing in the amateurs, named Kelly Slater.
I remember during a surf comp in France, he was against his idol, Tom Curren and Slater won.
There was a lot of talk about him but you knew inside this kid from Cocoa Beach was going somewhere.
He is multi-talented but during his interviews…print or on television, you kind of see something through his eyes. Stoke when he wins a comp.
But I don’t know…you sensed somethings at times that you wonder how life is going for Kelly Slater. “Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey” was so captivating that I couldn’t even put the book down. This book is not a how-to-surf book.
It’s about the life of Kelly Slater and he talks about personal things that occurred in his life that I must say…it takes a lot of courage and probably is therapeutic in a way to get everything out into the open for him.
From his childhood, his father leaving his family and getting involved with alcoholism, insight on competitions and what was on his mind and how he actually gets pissed off (which I really couldn’t imagine because he seems always calm) if he’s losing a match.
He also talks about his relationships with Bree (if you read any of the surf mags…you always saw a photo of them together) and the problems with that relationship as well as with Pamela Anderson and others.
Also, the “Baywatch” situation and how Kelly and his co-star David Charvet got into a fight because Kelly didn’t like being on the show and that was interesting. How he amassed a lot of money early on in his surfing career and then blew it all and it took a hard realization to manage it.
Also, about that French stalker woman and how he almost got jumped by several guys.
How he wanted to be like Tom and leave his sponsor to be soul surfer. His reunion with his father and him being a father which he kept secret from the public for two years and so much in this book that you start to learn more about Kelly Slater.
Like many sports icons, you tend to see the good things. With Slater, I thought…champion, dates fine women, on the cool magazines and in the spotlight….what a life!
But when you read the book, you realize that Slater really never asked to be a star, he just wanted to surf and the things that went on with his life, like most celebrities or sports icons, they can manifest to something negative but he was able to stay right in between, he never goes into a ….I’m doing so well with my life but that he made some f-up’s along the way and he’s making sure that he doesn’t do again (or try to anyway) and continues to improve himself and try to make better decisions after learning from difficult and heartbreaking decisions.
After reading this book, I respect him so much more. This book is absolutely wonderful!
