Hot Curl

Pot-bellied surfer-slacker cartoon figure created by San Diego artist Michael Doerner in 1959; later turned into a cause celebre statue at WindanSea. "People still love Hot Curl." California Surf Museum cofounder Jane Schmauss said in 2019. "He's a physical manifestation of surfers having fun, not taking themselves too seriously, and just being fringe animals of society."

Dormer was born in Los Angeles (1935), raised in San Diego, and while living in San Francisco in the mid-'50s fell in wit...