Review
WL Rating
In surfing’s past, there is the pantheon of undisputed legends like Greg Noll, Gerry Lopez, Tom Blake, Eddie Aikau, et al. A bit down the historical continuum there’s that group of flawed, yet still revered surfers like Dora and Hakman. But, at the end of the spectrum there is one Adolph Bunker Spreckels III, the debauched heir to a multimillion dollar sugar fortune. In Bunker Spreckels: Surfing’s Divine Prince of Decadence, photographer Art Brewer and writer C.R. Stecyk (of Dogtown fame) have combined Bunkers‘ rich visual history with a complete transcript of his last interview. For me, the results are solid and highly entertaining. As a progressive surfing innovator, Bunker pushed his performance in waves around the world. While he initially spurned his family’s fortune and influence, an unlucky relative’s early death resulted in a windfall for young Bunker. With cash in hand, Spreckels begins to create an alter-ego whose surfing is now augmented by his descent into drugs, martial arts, guns and women (over 60 women, in fact, during one particularly athletic week). As with Lopez’s bio, Bunker’s book benefits from a mostly first person narrative thanks to the interview transcript. While there’s no doubt that he was quite cagey, it’s also obvious that Bunker was, frankly, quite bonkers. If you’re easily offended by privileged people squandering their soul and wealth, then you’ll likely not enjoy this book. But if, like me, you enjoy watching the dark comedy that can be the human condition, you’ll find this book very entertaining. (April 2010)
Bunker Spreckels - Art Brewer/C.R. Stecyk
