Gerry Lopez thinks before he speaks, and that’s a very good thing. Photo: The Plug
Gerry Lopez isn’t the easiest person to get in touch with. He doesn’t need to talk to writers or podcasters or anyone he doesn’t want to talk to, of course, because he is who he is. His status is cemented in the annals of surf history, so when he does decide to sit down with someone and talk about his long and storied career, it means something. Recently, he sat down with talented photographer Justin Jay, creator of a fantastic podcast called The Plug.
Jay, of course, spent a decade on the North Shore photographing surfers and their lifestyles. Being New York based, he’s also extremely plugged in to culture at large. He’s worked with Hollywood stars like Alec Baldwin and Ethan Hawke, and musicians like Outkast and Snoop. And no matter who he’s worked with, he’s always garnered respect.
Lopez, known around the world as Mr. Pipeline, is one of the most revered figures in the history of surfing. He’s the original Pipeline Master and Founder of Lightning Bolt Surfboards – an icon and pioneer in the sport’s history. Lopez was among the first to surf G-Land and starred as himself in the surf-cult classic film Big Wednesday. These days, he spends much of his time in Bend, Oregon, surfing occasionally and snowboarding plenty.
A few years ago, I sat in my truck at the bottom of a canyon road on the PCH in Malibu for an interview with him. I’d gotten the time wrong, so I needed to pull over and have our talk on the side of the road. Not the most professional thing I’ve ever done, but that conversation, even all these years later, sticks with me.
“Gerry Lopez speaks very slowly,” I wrote afterwards for a series we called Classics. “You can tell that he smiles through his words. Each is measured carefully before spilling out. He pauses mid-sentence often, and, in the course of a 45-minute conversation, I interrupt him a few times, thinking that he’s done speaking. He isn’t. He’s merely thinking about his words before he speaks, something that, surprisingly, is very rare. And although his words are slow, the content of them is not.”
Justin Jay had a similar experience to mine. “He was a little reclusive and communicated only by brief emails before we recorded the conversation,” he explained to me. “But once we started recording, he was immediately very present and warm. He seems like such an easy going and relaxed guy, but I really got the sense that he actually puts a lot of thought into everything he says and does.”
Gerry Lopez respects Jay’s craft, too. “He came very prepared and had re-read some of the stories that he thought that I might bring up,” Jay continued. “I got to cross paths with him and photograph him a few times during the shooting of my North Shore book (HI 1K), but it was a real honor to get to have his full attention and get his perspective on things.”
Over the course of their conversation, they talked about many things, from Lopez’s role in the newly released book Surfer Stories, to what 50 years of practicing yoga has taught him about flow on waves and in life. One part of the conversation in particular is of note, to me at least: Gerry Lopez’s branded soft top surfboard deal with Costco. It seemed a strange marriage when the news broke — a man known as the soul surfer to end all soul surfers partnering up with a retail giant to make surfboards for the masses — but Gerry’s response was a thoughtful one.
“I wanted to hold his feet to the fire a little bit about his Costco/Wavestorm deal which I felt didn’t really represent his legacy appropriately — he was very honest and candid about his intentions and I actually understood his motivation a lot better after we spoke,” Jay said. “The word legend gets thrown around a lot these days, but Gerry has actually earned that title by the way he’s lived his life in and out of the water. I’m very proud to have gotten a chance to have him as a guest on the podcast.”
Listen here on Apple Podcasts or head over to ThePlugWithJustinJay.com to find alternate platforms.
