Doc Paskowitz led the family that’s been called the First Family of Surfing…featured in Vanity Fair and publications worldwide. Tommy Hilfiger named a line of beachwear after them, saying “there’s no one more cool and credible than the Paskowitzes.” Sal Paskowitz joins us to remember the leader of that family, his father, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz who has just died.
Sal talks about his father who threw away a lucrative medical practice, packed his wife and nine children into a van and took them on a continuing surfing odyssey.While there may be people who drop out of mainstream society and take their family traveling to surf, Doc Paskowitz is the only one who did it his entire life. Sal remembers his father’s life which included working as a doctor in far flung locations and then quickly returning to the best waves whenever he could.
Doc pioneered the surfer life founding surf camps around the world (he is credited with bringing surfing to Israel and donating surf boards to Palestinians as recently as 2007—feeling passionately that surfing could help bridge the gaps between people). Growing up in a small van with 11 people presented huge challenges for the family of course and Sal talks about some of those.
Salvador Paskowitz joins us to talk about his remarkable father just a few weeks after his father’s death.
There are clips in the show from the movie Surfwise available at Amazon.com
Sal joins Heather and Mark in this episode.
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