"Conversations: Mark Foo," by Chris Carter, ran in the October 1981 issue of Surfing, when Foo was 24. This version has been shortened and edited.

After a few years of seeing and hearing a lot about you in the magazines, it seems like somebody's turned off the tap in the past couple of years. What exactly have you been doing?

Pretty much the same as always. I've been moving forward. I'm surfing more and I've been surfing better. I'm still trying to make a living out of surfing, and I've been doing a lot of media work towards that goal. I've got a radio show on a station here in Honolulu called 98 Rock, which is a real successful and popular station. My show's done well so far. It's a weekly thing where I just talk about surfing and surf personalities and events. I'm also doing some TV work; taking the public surfing is what it amounts to. I've been doing some promotional work for my sponsor, Anheuser-Busch, representing the Michelob product line. Between all that I'm pretty busy.

So you've become Mark Foo, Hawaiian media personality?

Not really. That's not my goal, it's just a matter of necessity because it's difficult to make a living at surfing, and I haven't chosen to go on the competitive circuit because I didn't have the funds and just couldn't justify it. To get people to pay you to surf you have to give them some sort of tangible return on the money they're spending on you. To do this, I've had to use the media.

Then you really have no other aspirations to be a DJ, an entertainer or anything along those lines?

No. Those doors are open to me, but my roots and my direction will always be in surfing. Also, last year I took a lot of time to build my house here on the North Shore.

Do you feel that the media blitz involving you in the late '70s earned you a lot of criticism?

Yeah, it did. At that time, my exposure in the surf magazines put me in a position where I was possibly overrated. Now, with the progress I've made since that time, and because of having way less exposure, I've reached a position where I'm possibly underrated. Basically it was a matter of backing up that early coverage and proving myself. So that's what I've had to do.

Do you think you were a victim of circumstance, in that you just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the photographers and then got blasted for it by your fellow surfers?

I don't look at it as being a victim, no. It was a big blast of exposure that wasn't so much my doing or a concerted effort on the media's part. It's just something that happened; a matter of lucky timing. My peers thought it was a conscious effort on my part when it really wasn't. There was a great deal of exposure all at one time, and it caught everybody off guard. Because it was so much so fast, everyone seemed to think it was undeserved. Well, not necessarily undeserved, but more of "Why him and not me?"

Do you think the criticism was valid, seeing as you didn't have a strong competitive record?

I can see their point of view. I had not been a strong competitive surfer. I wasn't a competitive surfer at all, really. I'd done well in the amateurs at that stage, but 1 hadn't turned pro or been on the pro circuit then. The bottom line, I think, though, is that when the magazine editors pick photos they pick the best ones, not necessarily the ones taken of a strong competitive surfer. Competitive surfers didn't see it that way, though.

Tell me about your recent contract with Anheuser-Busch and your sponsorship by them.

My whole plan for surfing is very long-term. I figured that for me to make any advancements or breakthroughs in the sport, I'd have to move outside of the sport. There's only so much room am money in the surfing industry itself! I started looking at the top, and after knocking on about fifty doors I hooked up with Anheuser-Busch, which is the top in its field. I wanted to try and prove that surfing and a surfing personality could be a legitimate and effective marketing vehicle for a product outside of the industry itself. So far the association has been beneficial for me, and I think they would say the same thing, because we are expanding the original contract. I've also worked out an association with my other sponsor, Lightning Bolt.

You're following the pro tour to South Africa soon. Was it your new sponsorship that gave you this opportunity or more of a renewed enthusiasm to compete?

It wasn't a renewed enthusiasm. It's something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to compete, wanted to travel. Now that I have the backing, I'm able to go. It hadn't been feasible financially until now.

Do you think that if you would have gone the pro tour route earlier that you would have had some success by now competitively?

I think competition in all forms, including surfing, is largely a matter of experience. The most successful competitors are the most experienced competitors. I have confidence in my own surfing, so yeah, I think if I would have started earlier I'd have developed a successful record. But only time will tell, since I'm starting now.

Are you bitter at all about your harsh judgment because of the early exposure when you have paid your dues and proven yourself in what is considered the ultimate proving ground, the North Shore?

No, I'm not bitter at all. That was all quite a few years ago. I see it all in perspective, and I harbor no bitterness. In fact, I think any kind of exposure is good and it's helped me considerably. It's made me somewhat famous, and I'm trying to capitalize on that. It's opened doors for me.

Let's get back to surfing. What's happening on the North Shore?

The surf lately has been non-stop. On either the South, North or West shore, it's been happening. It's hard to get any work done here when the surf is as good as it's been.

I'm totally stoked on my boards. I think Thrusters, the ones that I've been riding, are ideal boards for Hawaiian surf.

Have you surfed any of the Outer Islands this year?

Yeah, I slipped off to Maui this last winter and I caught Honolua Bay perfect with nobody out. It was the first day of the swell. Everybody showed up for the second day, but by then it had already peaked, and the swell was changing direction. I'm planning on going back to Maui tomorrow, in fact, for this big south swell that's supposed to hit.

Are you going to Maui with the hope of riding Maalaea?

Yeah, this is going to be my chance to surf it if it does break. I think it's going to, but you never know with that place.

[Photos: Jeff Divine, Gary Terrell, Bernie Baker]

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