John Cormack (2nd from right) with Dee Why mates on outing to North Avalon, early 1960s
photo by Ron Graham taken from article cited below
Bruce Usher’s ALB portrait* of one-time northern beaches drifter, trailblazer, board maker and cultural cross pollinator John Cormack conjures the loose and restless soul of late 50s youth, before foam and fibreglass dug in and Mick Dooley was still playing tennis, and delivers a salt stained love letter to surfing.
The article tracks Cormack from Dee Why to Santa Barbara and back again by the mid 1960s and ends with his return to surfing after a corporate sidetrack of some 21 years.
Almost unwittingly, there’s a vivid glimpse through the squinting eyes of a 12 year old boy, around 1956, when he and his mates graduated from surfoplanes and plywood skimboards to 16 footers …We mostly used to paddle up to Long Reef where a whole bunch of us including Doug Andrew, Peter Claire and Charlie Cardiff would surf the green waves on the second Bombie. A year or two later Cormack’s making the sucky sections at Dee Why Point with one foot dropped for turning, on his home-made 10 foot ockanui. Around 58 or 59 came balsa and pretty soon after that coolite-foam. Not sure why, but something really cool in the simplicity and clarity captured here.
Be sure to keep Cormack in mind for an exhibition surfer bio…
* Bruce Usher interviews John Cormack in Australian Long Boarding 2002 Edition 22 pp48-55