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Terrier-built regularfooter from Hermosa Beach, California; winner of the 1966 Swami's Pro-Am, and runner-up in the 1969 US Championships. "Dru was a charismatic, soulful, radical surfer," fellow South Bay wave-rider and frequent foil Mike Purpus said. "He wasn't much over five feet tall, but he was tough as hell and never backed down."

Harrison was born (1950) in Hawthorne, the son of a cement truck owner, and began surfing at age 10 after his family moved to a beachfront house in Hermosa. In high school, Dru and his three older brothers (Derek, Dane, and Drake) were all varsity wrestlers

Small, fast, and powerful, even as a young teen, Harrison had the quickest feet on the coast, and often embellished his noserides by kicking his right foot into the air ahead of his board or turning around and hanging heels.

In 1965 he won the boys divisions of the 1965 KHJ Hermosa contest, one of the biggest events of the summer. The following year, at age 16, in the predawn of surfing's professional era, Harrison won $500 win in the 1966 Swami's Pro-Am, beating Fred Hemmings, Corky Carroll, Steve Bigler, and Skip Frye, among others. Later that year Rick Surfboards introduced the Dru Harrison Improviser signature model. He also placed eighth in the 1966 World Surfing Championships—he was youngest male American competitor. In 1967 he won the juniors division of the US Championships, and took the USSA juniors ratings crown; in 1969, he was second to Corky Carroll in both the mens division of the US Championships, and the Smirnoff Pro. The following year he placed 10th in the World Championships. 1971 was Harrison's final year as a top competitor: he won Santa Cruz AAAA, and earned a spot in the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational.

During the late-'60s introduction of the shortboard, Harrison reinvented his approach and rode in a calm feet-together "speed surfing" stance. "The speed surfer," he wrote in 1969, "bends forward at the waist, arms spread like a bird, head erect, the chest as close to touching the left knee (for regularfooters) as possible. This stance will produce the ultimate in speed and will draw the lines and arcs of a burn out to their maximum."

Harrison appeared in a small number of surf movies, including 

 (1973), and wrote a half-dozen articles for 

Harrison died from alcohol-related liver failure in 2003, at age 52.

Harrison, Dru

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