Brown, Woody (1912 – 2008)
Unsinkable regularfooter from Kahului, Maui, Hawaii; pioneering big-wave rider in the early 1940s. Brown was born (1912) in New York City, the only son of a Wall Street brokerage firm owner. At 15, Brown worked for aviator Charles Lindbergh, just before Lindbergh made his historic transatlantic flight in 1927; Brown then dropped out of high school, ran away from home, and became obsessed with glider flying. He moved to Southern California in 1936, towing his glider, settled in La Jolla, built...