Phil Edwards with his board. Reyn Spooner has dedicated
a line of clothing to this sixties surfing icon..
"I hate this, I really, really hate this," he says to himself, then shakes his head.
What Edwards, 58, "really, really" hates seems to start with being the focus of attention, being fussed over, receiving compliments from strangers, but especially, signing autographs. It's not that Edwards dislikes his admirers, he just doesn't understand why people care about him and the attention makes him uncomfortable.
This from the first surfer credited with riding the treacherous Banzai Pipeline -- which he reportedly named -- in 1961.
"Nope, I can't do this," Edwards tells a man who asks him to autograph a T-shirt bearing an old Edwards logo.
"But I've waited 30 years for this," the fan pleads. "Please!"
Edwards is standing in the Reyn's store at Ala Moana Center. The clothing manufacturer has created its first signature line of clothing featuring a sports figure and that's Phil Edwards.
"We settled on Phil because he is the closest fit to what Reyn Spooner's represents," said Tim McCullough, president and chief executive officer of the company. "Phil is quality, fairly conservative, a bit understated, and has an unblemished reputation as a surfer and a gentleman."
The first of three Phil Edwards collections includes shirts, shorts, skirts and a muumuu ranging $41-$130. So far Reyn's has received orders for $25,000 worth of garments, McCullough said.
Edwards, voted in 1966 by Surfer magazine readers as the best surfer in the world, was at the Reyn's store recently to shake hands, sign autographs, have his picture taken and be gawked at. Middle-aged surfers stood outside, peeking in to catch a glimpse of the reluctant legend.
It's clear that Edwards prefers talking story far more than signing tank tops.
"Do you still surf? a man stammers.
"Only if it's perfect," says Edwards who lives with his wife, Mary, in Capistrano Beach in Southern California. "We (with wife Mary) sail a lot and dive a lot off the (Channel) Islands."
"You're still making boards aren't you?" a North Shore grandfather interrupts.
"Not for about six months," Edwards says. "Hurt my shoulder working on a toilet at home and had to have surgery so it's been hard to hold the planer."
"You've always been an inspiration and idol of mine," the same 72-year-old man says. "I appreciated what you did for the sport, how you surfed yourself, how you conducted your own life. You gave surfing credibility when it needed it the most."
"I did?" Edwards says, laughing. "That's a scary thought. But thanks for saying that. Are you still surfing?"
A surfer in his 20s carries in a 30-year-old, yellowed surfboard that bears Phil Edwards' signature on its deck.
"I found this in a trash can on Tantalus a long time ago," the young man says. "Would you sign it?"
Edwards tells the man he recently saw a board like it in better condition that a San Diego-area surf shop was selling for $1,800.
Fans pile into the store holding old surfing T-shirts, Hobie decals, three-decade-old Surfer magazines and their own pens for him to use to sign them. Customers who purchased Reyn's Edwards' shirts asked him to sign these.
"You don't really want me to ruin this beautiful shirt do you?" Edwards says to a woman holding four of the shirts.
"Ruin it!" she says. "I bought them just for your signature."
Someone asks Edwards what it was like to ride the Banzai Pipeline that first time.
The Hawaiians were "too smart to surf it," Edwards says.
"I watched it break for several days. Such a beautiful wave, so hollow. I thought how cool it would be to ride just one wave."
A cool ride he got, captured on film by Bruce Brown. Edwards caught an 8-foot wave, made a soft turn at the bottom to escape the tumbling lip, then cut back -- slowed down his board deliberately -- to get deeper inside the tube.
By the time Edwards reached his car three other guys were paddling out to the spot. The rest is surfing history.
A 40-something man approaches Edwards, his young son in tow.
"This is the man I've told you about Jimmy," the father says, reaching out with a trembling hand. "Mr. Edwards thank you for the inspiration you gave me 30 years ago and today."
"No," Edwards says, grasping the man's hand with his own two. "The pleasure is really, really mine. Are you still surfing?"