Drew Kampion

Noted surfing journalist Drew Kampion was born in 1944 in Buffalo, New York. Kampion first started surfing in 1962 two years after he moved with his family to Sunnyvale, California. Drew graduated from California State University at Northridge with a B.A. in English. He went on to work briefly for the Wall Street Journal. His first article for Surfer magazine was published in early 1968. By the end of 1968 Kampion was hired to be the editor for Surfer and was instrumental in switching the focus in Surfer from a straightforward sports publication to a more mischievous and innovative counterculture journal. An extremely protean and versatile writer, Kampion penned everything from interviews to sports reportage to poetry, reviews, fiction, and editorials for Surfer. One of the first journalists to perceive surfing as more than just a simple recreational pastime, Drew left Surfer and joined up with Surfing magazine in late 1972. Kampion continued to write his usual array of profiles and interviews with top surfers along with forays into fiction, essays, and even comedy. Moreover, Drew not only worked as an advertising director for O'Neill Wetsuits from 1978 to 1981, but also was an editorial director of Wind Surf magazine from 1982 to 1989, was the editorial director for the Patagonia clothing company from 1990 to 1991, served as an associate editor for New Age Journal in 1992, was the owner and publisher of the Washington State-based Island Independent from 1993 to 1996, did a stint as a contributing writer for Swell.com from 2000 to 2001, and, starting in 2003, worked for several years as the American editor for the British publication Surfer's Path. Among the various surfing magazines that Kampion has written articles for are Tracks, Longboard, Surfing World, Surf Session, and Surfer's Journal. Moreover, Drew has also written such books as The Book of Waves, Stoked: A History of Surf Culture, The Way of the Surfer, and Greg Noll: The Art of the Surfboard. In 2008 Kampion became the first writer to be inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California. Married with two children, Drew lives on an island in Washington State.