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Show Beach Boys Weren't First Friday. October 19. 1979. He Began Surfing in 1929 By Dong Williams EUREKA, Calif. (NEA) -- I VLi- - 1 John Heath "Doc" Ball has finally decided to make a few concessions to his "old age." That doesn't mean the retired dentist has slowed down. It just means that he usually substitutes a skateboard for a surfboard when he's in the mood for some fun. "I started skateboarding when I got fed up with riding in the cold water," says Doc" who admits that he just can't keep as warm as he used to. "A guy's got to do something to keep his reflexes or had it. I didn't realize Jou've it was until I started mixing it up with some kids H9. 1 and his greatness. One of Doc's fondest memories involves Hawaii's Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympic IT J champion swimmer wr vT 1 whole chest would rise out of the water he was so powerful. He just left Buddy Smith, the Pacific Coast champ, in the Utah-P- age 19 iff m' I o':.: ' . dust." rt Doc admits that there have been some changes since the days when he would set off in his Model A "surfing wagon" with wooden and boards as long copper-inlai- d as 10Vi feet and hand paddles that surfers wore to catch their rides. "We used to kid each other," he says. "We'd say, I wonder what we'll look like in our old age?' because we used to carry those boards on our backs to the water. They were so heavy you could hear your bones crunch." Since the 1930s, boards have changed, going though phases of hollow wood, balsa wood and fiberglass. Doc attributes many of the innovations in the sport to his old friend, Tom Blake. "Blake was a guy I always looked up to," he says. "He was kind of a loner, not a member of the club. But he invented a lot of rescue equipment and designed and built one of the first hollow 125-pou- down in Southern Cal." Doc still surfs without fail on his birthday every Jan. 25. Sometimes he gets the urge to go out a few more times each year. But those times are few and between compared with his younger days in Southern California when surfing and surf photography were his passions. Doc began surfing in 1929. Six years later he was a founding member of the Palos Verdes Surfing Club, the first mainland club to organize and hold together. In the early '30s, Doc saw far some surfing pictures and decided to see what he could do with a camera. By that time he had graduated from dental school. He traded some bridgework for his first camera, a graflex. Over the next couple of decades, Doc shot thousands of pictures with his boxed waterproof camera, many of which were published in books, magazines and newspapers throughout the United States, Australia and Europe. His photos have appeared in National Geographic (1944), Life (1938), Look (1942), Parade (1949), Modern Photography (1950) and even the "A GUY'S GOT to do something to keep his reflexes," says John Heath "Doc" Ball ai he cruises on his skateboard. But Doc'i No. 1 passion remains surfing a sport he took up SO years ago. (Photo by Norman Shafer) trim and bubbling with enthusiasm when the conversation turns to the early days of surfing. "We used to do regular safaris with the club, he recalls. "In 1928, we went to Santa Cruz (now a popular California surfing spot) and there was nobody surfing there except us. But I remember going through during the war and they had already organized a club of their Britannica Encyclopedia who became one of the most fabled surfers ever. "I met Kahanamoku for the first time in 1922," he says. "He came over to put on a show for a pool dedication. And, oh, to see him swim. His m THE HERALD. Provo. (1952). In addition, Doc published his own book on Pacific-coas- t surfing in 1946. Titled "California Surfriders," the book is to be reprinted by Mountain and Sea Publishers of Los Angeles. Doc has lost his dark wavy hair. But he is still energetic, own." He adds, "Now surfing's just grown all out of reason. Besides Santa Cruz, the spots Doc surfed were legendary, a regular Beach Boys' Hermosa Beach, odyssey San Onofre, Palos Verdes, DOUG WILLIAMS is a reporter for the Eureka, Calif., Times Standard. Corona Del Mar, Malibu, San Clemente. Doc can still recall a moment from an early morning at San Onofre years ago. ''You could get some great long rides at San Onofre," he says. "There were these three breaks and one day I beat all three of them. By that time, I was screaming so loud I woke everybody up on the beach. Within five minutes, the water was full of boards." Aside from the surfing itself, Doc remembers the great surfers. Flipping through the mountains of clippings, surfing books and picture albums in his den, he pauses to talk about each man his style MILK IS DISTRIBUTED Cambodian cross the border daily to escape the ugnung ana lamine plaguing their country (UPI Telephoto) 300-mi- VOH1J with , Susan Evans McCloud SAT., OCT. 20 1 mm?0 if:- boards." In fact, one of the two boards Doc now owns was built by Blake. Doc bodysurfs and kayaks in addition to surfing and skateboarding. But for great times, surfing still ranks No. 1 with him. "Some days can be so good," he says. "After three or four rides you begin to feel the click of the water under your board. It does something to you psychologically. It turns you on." (NEWSPAPER to malnourished ucar inc ina. border. Thousands of Cambodians IVI6 p.m.to4p.m. For her new - Bookcraft publication 7 o i )L LEADS ENTERPRISE ASSN.) 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