RIP John Severson.
John Severson, the man who founded Surfer Magazine and started an entire industry, died on Friday night at the age of 83.
There’s no denying the impact Severson had on surf media. He, in fact, single-handedly created a space for it. “Before John Severson, there was no ‘surf media,’ no ‘surf industry’ and no ‘surf culture,'” wrote Sam George. “At least not in the way we understand it today.”
Severson’s journey really started when his family moved to San Clemente from Pasadena in 1945. “When [my father] quit his job and moved to San Clemente, it turned out to be the greatest move of my life,” he said in a video celebrating his Surfer Poll Lifetime Achievement Award. “I became a little beach boy and learned to surf.” By 1958, he made his first surf film, entitled simply Surf. It was the precursor to what his future would hold. Over the next few years, he made Surf Safari, Surf Fever, and in 1961, Big Wednesday. According to Surf Classics, “in 1978, famed Hollywood director John Milius ‘borrowed’ the movie title for his own big screen surfing production that had no other relation to the Severson film.” Severson, with an M.A. in Art Education, used his talents with a pencil to illustrate the posters for his films. Their style became almost as iconic as the films themselves.
Then, just before Surf Fever came out in 1960, he made a little magazine to promote it. Called The Surfer, it was less than 40 pages and full of photos, art, and a few words. It was a huge success. By 1961, The Surfer had become Surf Quarterly. Severson did nearly all of it: the art, the writing, the photography, even the design. Then he began hiring a few people who would become titans of the industry.
In the early ’70s, Severson stepped away from the magazine he’d worked so hard to create. He didn’t, of course, step away from surfing. With his wife and children, he moved to Maui and spent his time painting and surfing.
Perhaps more than anyone else, John Severson held the chisel that carved out surfing’s spot. He will be sorely missed. Our sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and everyone affected.
