Editor’s Note: The following interview contains strong religious views, and do not reflect those of The Inertia, which has no religious affiliation. However, we appreciate the life story and opinions of those who have impacted surfing, and hope you find Skip Frye’s story and opinions interesting.
“The lifestyle I live is such a wonderful lifestyle. The whole surfing thing. Like, making boards for people is like being Santa Clause. Because people get so excited, you know?” Image: Holtz
Mary Daly once said, “It is the creative potential in human beings that is the image of God.”
Here, Daly argues that each of us has work we are destined to do and, in doing this work, we are catapulted towards God. Propelled in the direction of peace. Call me crazy, but I think I’m starting to agree with Daly. I imagine Skip Frye would agree with her, too.
Harry “Skip” Frye is somewhat of a local hero here in the whale’s vagina (San Diego), but his reach in the surfing world meanders well beyond the confines of San Diego County.
In over 50 years of surfing and shaping boards, Mr. Frye has changed the face of the sport. The 72-year-old native San Diegan’s boards are highly coveted; his name graces waveriding halls of fame; and he has won many of the most important contests in locations all over the world.
In speaking with Mr. Frye, what strikes me about him is his faith in God. In the many places I seek counsel for wisdom on happiness – books, CDs, Ted talks, you name it – I am repeatedly instructed to turn my face towards the heavens to find true happiness. To seek communication with my God to realize my full potential.
Historically, I have always been the skeptic. The non-believer. The negativist. But after hearing so many successful people say that they appeal to a higher power for assistance with their work and with the particulars of their lives – well, it’s enough to make even the most cynical person take pause. The last thing I want to do is thump you with a Bible or stand on a soapbox. But, maybe you’ll consider putting on your open-minded hat for this one. What do you have to lose?
Natalie Holtz: What is your definition of happiness?
Skip Frye: When you feel good. Happiness is feeling good – everything is in sync. It’s a pretty hard one because this world keeps you in trouble and stuff happens all the time. I think my faith has a lot to do with keeping me happy. I try and follow through on the principles that are set in the Bible. There are priorities there – family, friends, and work. I try to take care of those things first, and then all the rest – like surfing or whatever, comes after. You have to balance it out, but you gotta take care of the priorities first. If you don’t take care of the priorities, then even if you’re having fun, you’re not happy because you know you gotta take care of school, work, family or whatever it is.
God is the most important thing. For me, it’s Jesus. I didn’t always know that – I have been up and down all of my life with it. But once I got that priority in mind, I’ve tried to keep Him in mind most of the time. He kind of guides and helps, and everything turns out good, pretty much. Even the problems.
Have you always believed in God?
More or less, it’s gotten more intense in my older age. I’ve been up and down. When my first wife left, I had a period in my life that was pretty bad. I call it my ‘ghetto period’ and I went down the tubes. Alcohol, drugs, hanging at the bar – the full worldly thing. That was the worst.
Being who I am in the sport, a role model of sorts, it wasn’t good, and my kids were kind’ve messed up at that point. I was in France and I took this long walk down the beach, and I just cried out to God. I said, ‘I just want the rest of my life to count. I want to know I am in contact with you, I don’t want to question my salvation.’ I just wanted everything to get right. I wanted my kids to get better. So I came back a different person after that, and I’ve been pretty steady since then with my faith, and it’s just been wonderful. My life just turned around and really got good. And also, the lifestyle I live is such a wonderful lifestyle. The whole surfing thing. Like, making boards for people is like being Santa Clause. Because people get so excited, you know, with me especially, because it’s so hard to get a board out of me. The list is 5,000 miles long. Well, it’s not that long because I don’t add to it any more than makes me comfortable. But people really get excited.
