Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Ahrens.
Chris, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began surfing in 1962. I was 14, and living inland, we would hitchhike to Huntington Pier and borrow surfboards. When I returned to school on Monday, I would exaggerate my surfing experience and say something like, “The waves were 10 feet and I shot the pier.” Inevitably, another surfer would challenge the story, and humiliate me by saying they were there that day, and I was not in the water. The next weekend I would say the surf was two feet. This was believable but nobody cared. Finally, I told my friends that the surf was six feet, I borrowed a board, broke it trying to shoot the pier and was chased off the beach. This was believable and everybody wanted to know more. In 1972 I moved to Australia without knowing anyone in the country. I had no money and was living on the beach when I hand wrote a story for the Australian surfing publication, Tracks. They paid me $40, and I had enough cash to live on the beach for another month. That led to a series of other stories. Upon returning home to the U.S. I found fairly regular employment with Surfer and Surfing Magazines. I eventually became a surf magazine editor and wrote five books on surfing.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With no formal training, I had to learn the hard way. I am not a good reader, so I depended upon finding the stories nobody else knew about. Most editors rejected my queries because of my poor grammar and spelling (this was before spellcheck.) I knew I was a writer, however, and so persisted, once being so poor that I lived in a friends backyard and fished the chicken skins he peeled from his chicken from the trash. That, along with a pilfered piece of Wonder Bread was often dinner. It has been a extremely rough road, but also extremely rewarding. God bless my wife for taking this bumpy road with me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I began by writing stories for surf magazines. About a decade ago I decided to give that up and try something else. That resulted in the book, “Twilight in the City of Angels” and a YouTube Channel called “God N Gangsters.” While I loved both projects, I was recently called by to write about surfing. Let me clarify that a bit. I don’t often write about the act of surfing, but the characters along the way. I am proud of all five surfing books I have done, and most proud of the latest one, Windansea: Life. Death. Resurrection. What sets me apart from others is that I seek out the obscure. I remember being at Pipeline in Hawaii once and seeing dozens of surf photographers all with the same cameras trying to get shots of Gerry Lopez. Instead, I walked up the beach and found a young Hawaiian boy trying eat his shaved ice before it melted. I asked him about Gerry Lopez, and he said some enlightening things. The story was too obscure for publication and I no longer have my notes on that interview, but I do recall that it was profound.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Yes, fight for your dream with all you have, but don’t believe the hype that “If you love your work, you will be financially rewarded.” Too many people wish upon a star and think this golden path will unfold before them. That never happens. I had mostly F’s in English and am on my 12th book. That happened in spite of my inferior grammar and because I work harder than anyone I know–seven days a week, no less than eight hours a day. It’s not work really, it is my hobby, my escape, my life. And be grateful that your roommate eats chicken.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/godngangsters/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.m.ahrens/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-ahrens-b050226/
- Twitter: Chris Ahrens
- Youtube: SurfersRule@surfersrule-13s
Image Credits
Steve Gibbs, Mark Duelman, T-Roc
