A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Brightly burning surfer from Costa Mesa, California; the first regularfooter to ride inside the tube at Pipeline in Hawaii. Peck was born (1944) in Los Angeles, the son of a navy pilot, and raised on or near military bases in Virginia, Texas, California, and Hawaii. He began surfing at Coronado, California, at age 15; later that same year his family moved back to Waikiki.

Peck placed fourth in the juniors division of the 1960 Makaha International, and returned the following year to finish third, but was virtually unknown in the surf world until New Year's Day, 1963, when he and California switchfooter Butch Van Artsdalen put on a fantastic display at Pipeline, with Peck spontaneously inventing a low-crouch stance, his right hand grabbing the rail of his board, that allowed him to ride high and tight to the curl. That summer, Peck's thrilling Pipeline rides were the highlight of three surf movies, 

Peck developed into one of surfing's most unusual characters. He was arrogant enough to wear a T-shirt with YES, I'M JOHN PECK stenciled across the back, and honest enough to admit to a surf journalist that he'd become "schizoid; I'm completely repulsed by the whole fame situation, yet I still seek it and I don't understand why."

Peck took fifth in the 1963 West Coast Championships, second in the 1963 Malibu Invitational, and third in the 1966 United States Championships. A victory in the 1966 Laguna Masters earned him a new Honda motorcycle. The Peck Penetrator, a noseriding model made by Morey-Pope Surfboards in Ventura, debuted in late 1965 with ads and brochures featuring Peck dressed as an impeccably-groomed British mod. (Well-preserved Penetrators would become collectors' items in the late '90s.)

Peck had meanwhile set out on a lengthy course of alcohol and drug abuse, including a seven-year LSD phase beginning in 1965. He was involved in the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a Laguna Beach consciousness-raising group that quickly evolved into a hardcore drug ring; he also lived in a tree in front of Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu, served six months in solitary confinement on Maui on drug convictions, and was institutionalized. He gave up drugs and drinking in 1984, four years later began surfing again, and in the mid-'90s was reintroduced to the nostalgia-hungry surfing world as a thin, weathered, flexible yoga master who claimed he could levitate.

As of 2013, Peck still surfed regularly, and traveled often to Baja California, Mexico, paying for his trips by building and selling neoclassic Penetrator models.

Peck, John

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Videos

Contests