Surf And Rescue George Freeth And The Birth Of California Beach Culture Patrick Moser by Patrick Moser 9780252053443, 9780252044441, 0252053443, 0252044444, 2021056962, 2021056963 instant download after payment.

The mixed-race Hawaiian athlete George Freeth brought surfing to Venice, California, in 1907. Over the next twelve years, Freeth taught Southern Californians to surf and swim while creating a modern lifeguard service that transformed the beach into a destination for fun, leisure, and excitement. Patrick Moser places Freeth's inspiring life story against the rise of the Southern California beach culture he helped shape and define. Freeth made headlines with his rescue of seven fishermen, an act of heroism that highlighted his innovative lifeguarding techniques. But he also founded California's first surf club and coached both male and female athletes, including Olympic swimming champion and "father of modern surfing" Duke Kahanamoku. Often in financial straits, Freeth persevered as a teacher and lifeguarding pioneer—building a legacy that endured long after his death during the 1919 influenza pandemic.

A compelling merger of biography and sports history, Surf and Rescue brings to light the forgotten figure whose novel way of seeing the beach sparked the imaginations of people around the world.

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Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on Hawaiian Language
Introduction
1. A Pacific Ocean Childhood
2. Renewing a Royal Sport at Waikiki
3. A Waterman in Los Angeles
4. The Rescue
5. Amateur Troubles
6. A Gold Life-Saving Medal
7. Return to the Islands
8. From Competitor to Mentor
9. Coaching Duke
10. A New Beginning in San Diego
11. Chief Lifeguard
12. Last Breath
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Back cover|

"Moser's book will bring renewed attention to Freeth, whose contributions to surf and beach culture in California have typically been overshadowed by those of his fellow Hawaiian waterman and protege Duke Kahanamoku." —San Francisco Chronicle

"A valuable and absorbing biography, starring a forgotten founder of California beach culture." —Library Journal, starred review

"Surf and Rescue is an informative, engaging, and fascinating account of the way one man forever changed the world for the better." —Kelp Journal
|Patrick Moser is a professor of French at Drury University and editor of Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing.