Haley, Jack (1935 – 2000)

Charismatic regularfooter from Seal Beach, California; winner of the first West Coast Surfing Championships, held at the Huntington Beach Pier in 1959, described by the Orange County Register as a "larger-than-life figure who always brought the party with him."

Haley was born (1935) and raised in Seal Beach, and began riding wave in the late '40s on a rubber mat. He later gravitated to Huntington Beach, where he became a dominate presence at the pier during the rough-and-tumble '50s. In the ...