In September, the JSV Book Club had the honor of hosting Pulitzer Prize winner, Bill Finnegan, to talk about his memoir, Barbarian Days: a Surfing Life.
A book beloved by surfers and non-surfers alike, Barbarian Days is more than just a memoir of great waves discovered and ridden. It’s a story of family, friendships, love, coming-of-age, and the gradual mastering of an exacting, little-understood art, told with such lyricism and insight that even non-surfers are swept along for the ride.
Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan has chased waves across the globe since childhood—through the South Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, Latin America, and Africa. His wide-angle curiosity and sympathies open up new worlds with self-deprecating humor and sensitivity.
In a wide-ranging and unfettered conversation with Jim Kempton, former editor and publisher of Surfer Magazine, Finnegan spares no detail on how the best-selling memoir came to life, the cast of characters that make this story so rich, and the lessons he’s learned from a life spent on the waves.
We’re proud to feature highlights from the conversation as well as the full fireside chat below. To learn more about the JSV book club visit http://jsv.com/books.
How did one of the most famous books about surfing come to be?
Did winning the Pulitzer change Finnegan’s life?
What was the scene like at Ocean Beach in the 1980s?
What lessons about surfing can be applied to the rest of life?
Want more? View the whole fireside chat.