Curren, Pat (1932 – 2023)

Impenetrable surfer and surfboard shaper from La Jolla, California; generally regarded as the best big-wave rider of the late 1950s and early '60s, as well as the era's finest big-wave surfboard craftsman; father of three-time world champion Tom Curren.

Pat Curren was born (1932) in Carlsbad, California, the son of a surveyor, and grew up in San Diego's Mission Beach. At 18, two years after dropping out of high school, he moved to La Jolla and began surfing; he later became an original membe...