Corky Carroll
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San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California
I. Biography
Born and raised in Surfside, California (just north of Huntington Beach), Corky Carroll
has become a legend in his own time. Some know him as "the most recognized name in surfing," others know him as "the West Coast Jimmy Buffett." Carroll is definitely an icon in the surfing world. He was the first
person to be paid to surf and the first to receive endorsements. Directly after his early retirement, Carroll became involved in the music business as a
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. For the thirty years he has been a professional musician, Carroll has released fifteen albums dating back to 1970. He has
worked and performed with the Beach Boys, and to this day is working on his current project, Liquid Measures, which is approaching gold status within the music industry.
Other than being a professional surfer and musician, Carroll spent ten years as the advertising director of Surfer Magazine, six years as a tennis pro, a couple of years as a
ski instructor, managed a car dealership, did three surf movies, seven surf videos, and some television comedy. He has appeared in Miller Lite beer commercials, and more
recently, a commercial for Ocean Spray Cranberry drinks. His current occupations are designing surfboards for Robert August, running world class surf schools in California,
Mexico, and Costa Rica, and last but not least, Carroll is also a weekly columnist for one of the Orange County Register's weekly newspapers (The Huntington Beach Wave).
Among his many talents, Carroll also knows how to write. It all began when he was a writer for his high school newspaper. From there he worked doing articles for a surf magazine.
Then, four years later, he received a phone call asking him if he wanted to be a columnist for the Orange County Register. He gladly accepted and he has been working as a
columnist ever since. You could catch his column updated every Wednesday. Carroll remains a Huntington Beach local, with his wife Pamster and his daughter Kasey.
"Yes, I still surf all the time, and no, I still don't have a real job…. Let's hope it never comes to that!" said Carroll. II. Literary Works (partial listing)
Surf Dog Days and Bitchin' Nights (1989) - A book that Corky is not fond of. Pier Pressure (1999) - A new book; a classic look at the inside of the surfing world from the very core.
The Huntington Beach Wave - Catch the new column updated every Wednesday. III. Contact: Duke's Surf City: Carroll is currently performing at DUKE'S on the pier in Huntington
Beach. Call for show times (714) 374-6446 Custom Surfboards: Call Corky direct at Huntington Surf 'n Sport (714) 960-2266 EMail Corky at: 
Carroll started surfing when he was only in the first
grade. Not long after, he began competing professionally. He competed professionally from 1959 until 1972. During that time span, he won the United States Overall Championship five times, the
International Professional Championship three times, the International Big Wave Championship, and the World Small Wave Championship. He was also named "Best Surfer in the World" in a Surfer Magazine
reader's poll in 1968. Before he retired at the young age of 24, Carroll had won over one hundred titles.
http://jimfacey.com/Corky.htm
http://surfingmuseum.org/legends/legends.html
This essay was submitted by a student of Kathy Honda Stein, a teacher at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California.