This letter ran in the April 1990 issue SURFER. It was written by world tour pro Jeff Booth, and cosigned by over two-dozen other CT pros. The "guy who spent his summer at Trestles," as mentioned by Booth, below, is Christian Fletcher.

As editors of one of the most prestigious surfing magazines in the world, we ask for your help and support.

Today it seems your magazine is running on a large quantity of photos of lesser known surfers. False images are being created out of second-rate surfers at the expense of high-ranked professionals. We are being hurt by these misrepresentations.

The professional surfers of the world urge the magazines to portray the sport a bit more realistically. Sure, there's room to expose local talent, but not excessively. The readers lose sight of who the world's best really are. What happened to the magazines that read like a Who's Who of the surfing world? When it meant if you were hot, you were published.

The magazines need to expose the best surfers and the rookies moving through the World Tour rankings; the ones who are performing at the highest level. In this way, the readers can identify with the champions.

Take tennis, for example: The top guys are featured on the covers as well as on the inside. If an unknown places well in a tournament he gets credit in the magazines. They use a system of coverage based on performance.

We professionals would like to see more of this in your magazine. It's quite unfair to dedicate yourself to the sport, train hard and travel around the world, only to pick up a magazine and see a guy who spent his summer at Trestles on the cover and centerspread.

Please send the photographers on the Tour with us. They could take photo trips with the best, not the unknowns. Market value of a pro is based on the amount of coverage a surfer gets in the magazines. For the majority, competing for photos with the unknowns while on the Tour is next-to-impossible. We all need the value and exposure in your magazine, and look forward to your support.

Barton Lynch, Graham Wilson, Damien Hardman, Hans Hedemann, Tom Carroll, Mitch Thorson, Gary Elkerton, Richard Marsh, Martin Potter, Nicky Wood, Glen Winton, Ted Robinson, Dave MacAulay, Greg Anderson, Rob Bain, John Shimooka, Brad Gerlach, Vetea David, Marty Thomas, Michael Barry, Shaun Tomson, Rod Kerr, Sunny Garcia, Mike Rommelse, Todd Holland, Mike Parsons.

Over 175 readers wrote to SURFER in response—so many that the magazine dedicated an entire page in the July issue to "a statistical overview of Jeff Booth's letter." Some of the findings:

Responses that were in same way negative to the the pros' stand: 98

Responses that supported the pros' position: 2

Responses that thought the letter was a joke: 11

Responses using other foul or abusive language: 26

“Wet-nosed punks” 
“Money-grubbing scum”
“Mixed-up buttheads” 
“Whiny load of crap”
“Sniveling old ladies” 
“Belly-aching infants” 
“Stinky and futile vanity” 
“Narcissistic idiots”

Responses that hated Booth's comparison to tennis: 17

Responses comparing the sponsorship stickers on a pro surfer's surfboard to those on a racing car: 5

Responders who have "lost all respect for those who signed the letter": 6

Responders who swore they wouldn't buy anything endorsed by the guys who signed the letter: 2

Responders who like Christian Fletcher, and disagreed with the letter: 21

Responders who don't like Christian Fletcher, but still disagreed with the letter: 9

Responses that suggested the pros publish their own magazine: 22

Monetary donations for the pros: 25 cents

Number of responders who signed their letters "unknown surfer," or "second-rate surfer": 16

[Image of Jeff Booth from the 1990 Pipeline Masters. Statistics compiled by Ben Marcus]

"PROS TAKE A STAND" - JEFF BOOTH'S LETTER TO SURFER (1990)

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