L.J. Richards

Champion regularfoot surfer L.J. (Little John) Richards was born in 1939 in Oceanside, California. L.J. first started surfing at age 13; he often surfed with mentor and schoolmate Phil Edwards. Richards won the 1963 West Coast Surfing Championship contest and was the second place runner-up in the United States Invitational the following year. L.J. went on to place fourth in the inaugural World Championship contest held in Sydney, Australia in 1964. Moreover, Richards was an original member of the Windansea Surf Club in La Jolla, California. L.J. later went on to work as both a lifeguard and a fireman. He was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame at Huntington Beach, California in 2006.