Stab Magazine | John Severson Dead At 83

Live Now: Chapter 11 Mini-Documentary With Dane Reynolds

804 Views

John Severson Dead At 83

Filmmaker, publisher, and surf media mogul.

news // May 29, 2017
Words by stab
Reading Time: 2 minutes

It is an anxious time for ink spilled on a glossy medium. As the web continues to grow, the surf magazine’s existence is getting further constricted. Which gives us plenty of reasons to hold the original surfing print pioneers in high regard. And saddened us all the more when we learned John Severson, auteur and founder of Surfer magazine, passed away over the weekend in his sleep at the age of 83.

John was born in Pasadena, Los Angeles in December 1933. He started surfing as a young teenager after his family relocated to San Clemente, “Which turned out to be the greatest move of my life,” John recollects in a video commemorating his 2011 Surfer Poll Lifetime Achievement award. “I became a beach boy, learned to surf. Got a camera and immediately took them to the water to shoot surfing. I continued my surf film hobby until I was drafted into the army.”

John was always a multifaceted artist, selling his work while still finishing a master’s in art education at Long Beach State College prior to being drafted. So by no means would he let a government-forced move stunt his passion. 

And it didn’t. Courtesy of a thankful relocation error, the army stationed John in Hawaii. Joining the army surf team, he filmed the North Shore and Makaha during the heavy winters. The footage of which would be made into his first film, Surf.

With Surf being a commercial success, John would use the profits to make a follow-up film, Surf Surfari. But it was his film after that, Surf Fever, which debuted in 1960, that John made the dive into publishing. In order to advertise Surf Fever, he created the “First Annual Surf Photo Book” titled, The Surfer.

The hand-tailoured magazine featured screen-grabs from his 16mm film footage, cartoons, sketches, and photos from California and Hawaii. It made its first public appearance while John toured up and down the California coastline with other legendary filmmakers Bruce Brown, Bud Browne, and Greg Noll in the late 50s and early 60s while they were showing off productions such as Surf Fever, Big Wednesday, and Going My Wave. John would eventually start selling copies of the magazine to local surf shops up and down the California coast. Where it would normally sell out almost immediately.

The Surfer would soon become The Surfer Quarterly in 1961. It would then morph into the Surfer Bi-Monthly before ultimately becoming Surfer. For the most part, John did it all: Writing, design, art, and photography. He would eventually bring on venerable staff members like cartoonist Rick Griffin, photographer Ron Stoner, editor Drew Kampion and more to turn Surfer into a media powerhouse. But, it was always John’s photography, art, and sense of humour that set the pace.

After selling Surfer in 1972, John would move to Maui with his wife and two daughters, where he would continue pursuing his passion for photography, painting and of course, surfing. Interestingly, rumour has it the basis for this decision was because John lived next to then-US President Richard Nixon’s “White House of the West” perched on Cotton’s Point (by Trestles) prior. So John was the counterculture guy living next to the man. But his sister was dating a secret service agent working at Nixon’s house, who told her that they’d gone through John’s house and searched all his stuff at one point. This freaked John out enough to sell Surfer, his house and then move to Maui.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: What Happens When A Brand Takes Its Youth Team To A CT Event?

A: Good things, typically.

Mar 29, 2024

Full Frame: Scandinavia Is Surfing’s Next Frontier

A 30-hour drive, bathymetric maps, and 10 years of searching yield surfing's newest discovery.

Mar 29, 2024

Watch: João Chianca Had A Remarkable Hawaii Season Before His Injury

Plus an update on his condition.

Mar 28, 2024

Pittar’d And Feathered

Do the WSL judges deserve the internet's wrath? We asked the man of the hour.

Mar 28, 2024

Robbo, Pickles, And Tyler Wright Become The Underdogs Breakfast At Uninspiring Winkipop

The foreboding blade sharpens and inconsistent judging prevails on Day Two in Torquay.

Mar 27, 2024

“I Don’t Always Win Heats, But When I Do, I Try To Beat John John”

Slater shines and the axe begins its descent on Day 01 at Bells.

Mar 26, 2024

Back Against The Wall: The Ramzi Boukhiam Redemption

Morocco's first CT surfer on speaking six languages, having no coach, and snatching Fil Toledo's…

Mar 25, 2024

Will Kirra, Babies or JJF Stop a GOAT Winning at Bells?

Bluesky BOAG advice from a Superman specialist and former Trials winner.

Mar 25, 2024

Bells Preview: The WSL’s Victorian Sword Dancing Equinox Ritual

Will a Brazilian crack the Top 10 at Bells?

Mar 25, 2024

69 Shin Bones Later + the Anticlimactic State of Big Wave Record-Breaking

Lucas Chumbo might have surfed the biggest wave ever this year. But how will we…

Mar 23, 2024

Watch: ‘Fresh and Fried’ Ft the Quik Kids

How taxing is it to tackle the Gold Coast’s Triple Crown in a single day,…

Mar 23, 2024

The Popular Vote: The People’s Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino Champion

Which board looked best — to you —under Kolohe's talons?

Mar 22, 2024

Six Key Learnings From Portugal

Three CT events in, what do we know? 

Mar 21, 2024

‘Zipper’ Is Going On Tour, Here’s Where You Can Watch It  

Dates, times + locations for the Venice, Encinitas, Sydney + Byron premieres.  

Mar 20, 2024

Dane Reynolds On His Future, His Past, And Chapter 11’s Raison D’être

Our 9-minute plunge into the collective psyche of Ventura's pillar(s).

Mar 20, 2024

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley Explains Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024
Advertisement