Water cinematography was McCoy’s calling card. Photo: JackMcCoy.com
Iconic surf filmmaker Jack McCoy, who created nearly 30 films including Blue Horizon (which he had been touring in celebration of its anniversary), Deeper Shade of Blue and The Occumentary, passed away this week at 76 from an unspecified illness. McCoy was in the middle of showing the remastered Blue Horizon in Australia, where the California native, who’d learned to surf when his family moved to Hawaii, had made his home.
“It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we share the passing of our beloved father — our Big Kahuna — who has now caught his final wave and rests peacefully above,” McCoy’s family wrote on Instagram. “A true one of a kind, he was deeply loved by so many and touched, moved and inspired millions of hearts across the globe through his storytelling, art, and most importantly his passion for the environment and spirit of aloha. His legacy lives on in all of us who had the privilege to have met him.”
McCoy’s contributions to the surf film genre are many, but perhaps nothing defines his legacy more than his water photography, which was first on display in the movie Tubular Swells, which became something of a surfing phenomenon, reaching audiences well beyond the wave-riding world.
McCoy was also known to have a heart of gold, mentoring other filmmakers and even saving some surfers’ careers. Mark Occhilupo famously credits the filmmaker with resurrecting his, after a bout with alcohol and mental illness derailed his competitive run. McCoy urged Occy to get back in the game and start training again for a run at the 1995 Billabong Challenge in Western Australia. He would, of course, go on to win the world title in 1999.
“Jack McCoy pretty much made my surfing career what it is today,” Occy wrote on Instagram. “If it wasn’t for him I could be oblivious. I made my comeback in the West with Jack and I’ve always said this, I wouldn’t have my world title without him. He was a perfectionist and his art form of making surf films was unbelievable. He will never be forgotten, just put on one of his movies and you’ll be stoked on surfing forever… Aloha, Jack. You’ll be with me forever.”
McCoy was also a passionate environmentalist and once told The Inertia via email that he had been an “eco activist” since his high school days.
“We have one Earth,” McCoy said recently about caring for the environment. “We don’t have two. And right now the science shows us that half of the Earth has been flattened or destroyed by man. The other half is still able to recover and survive, but we have to do something. I’ve always had a rough time, (and) been worried about being the sole voice out there. But really it’s people power that helps make the change and difference… I’m working for as many (environmental organizations as I can) because I’m going to leave the world a better place.”
Without a doubt, McCoy certainly left the world of surfing a much better place.
Editor’s Note: We’ll have more soon on the passing of surf film icon Jack McCoy.
