"Life is a wave. Your attitude is your surfboard.
Stay stoked & aim for the light! "
-Drew Kampion
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Here we would like to share memories and letters for Dad. If you would like me to post a note or picture email: [email protected] you can sign the guestbook. Thank you so so much!
To My Best Friend
Dan- You have known my loftiest dreams and greatest fears.
God's Peace, my Dear One.
With love beyond measure and until we meet again..
Melis
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(I wrote this to him a few years back, but it's still true)
Dear Dad,
A vision of your strong red hands is the first thing that fills my mind. Then sitting in the back of the Buick, my little legs are stretched out in front of me and you reach behind to squeeze my ankle. Every time, at some point during the car ride you would reach behind and tickle or squeeze our feet, I felt so loved. I also have a photo of you that is ingrained in my mind. You are sitting outside on a bench on our property, facing directly at the camera with your firm cool man gaze and a cigarette hanging from the corner of your mouth. Plaid shirt, jeans and a not particularly sunny day set a scene of a gruff bachelor working man’s portrait until a major detail is noticed, the pheasant chick cupped in your hands.
Our lives are those two ships passing in the night now. I want to thank you for always being there to talk. You, as a parent, have mastered the perfect balance to talking with an adolescent/ young adult. I always felt your love and understanding for my potential but at the same time didn’t push too hard or make me feel like a failure. You have always left me on a good note and feeling happy when we’ve talked. I love you and thank you for that.
Love, Jodi
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Hi Danny,
Just came across a website with one of your beautiful boards on it and which gave your address.Hope you are doing ok and that life has been good to you. I think of you often, you know not many people have been as nice to me as you were back in the 70s. That is not to say people haven't been good to me, many have. But you were REALLY nice to me and I have never forgotten it. I was such a kook little gremmie when you took me under your wing, I have no idea why you did that for me, didn't know why at the time and still don't. But I appreciated it then as I still do today. Before you showed me how to shape I was flailing and would have continued to be atotal hack with no technique and no clue what I was doing. Because of you Dave Gamer was also so nice to me, he would kind of look at me like who knows what Danny sees in you but if he says you are ok, its ok with me. You were already a master shaper and knew exactly what you were doing. In fact looking back on it, you were so humble that you were not getting all the credit you deserved at the time. Your boards were way more functional and beautiful than anyone's except maybe Brewer's. Brewer was really a good designer but your boards were much more beautifully made. The skills you taught me were one thing but almost more of a teaching was to have the desire to really put your heart into each board and make it something special, almost nobody but you did that and I try to carry on with that spirit. For you to have shared so openly with me and given me the chance to develop skills with actual knowledge behind your techniques just turned on the lights for me. I don't have the right words to express what that felt like but I can say it was one of the most important things that has happened in my life. And in your honor I have always tried to do the same thing as the years have gone by. Every time I have had the chance to teach someone to shape, someone who shows some love for the art, I do it thinking of you and how it was so unnecessary for you to go out of your way for me and how much it helped me. It helped form values and beliefs that still work for me today. That old style made and makes so much sense to me. If we all do as you did for me and pass on our skills to the next generation, it keeps the craft of custom board making alive and gives a kid something valuable to do. lnstead today we see all too many former greats selling their names to the popout makers as they get older. Something you never did. Anyway, I just wanted to write and tell you that you have a lot of residual good karma out there lurking around. You have always been a truly inspiring and magical guy who gave alot more than you had to, may all of that come back in your future is my wish for you.
Tom Parrishyou know that he has been driven by an internal standard that few could
match. If you have watched him work, you know that much of what he has done
is based in exceptional skills with tools, a love of the materials, an
understanding of refined joinery, a mastery of subtle finishes. If you have
lived with his work, you know what it is to receive a gift that reflects the
depths of refinement and subtlety; of lasting quality; and of the spirit of
the man who has created it or blessed it with his touch to bring it up it to
its greatest potential.
Dan is my friend and his passing is a great loss to me. To have his spirit
living on in my home through the beauty of the pieces he's restored, means
that I will never be without him; without his gentle spirit. For that I am
so very grateful.
Sally
Sad to report the passing of surfing legend Dan Calohan. A lot of us fondly remember Plastic Fantastic Surfboards, which Dan founded in the 70's (still one of our favorite label names!). Dan continued to be an influence throughout his life - especially in the Pacific Northwest surfing community, where he judged the Nelscott Reef tow-in contest and our own Clean Water Classic in Westport. Aloha o'e Dan!
Dad enjoying his Surfers Journal Magazine. Thank you Steve Pezman for sending him the bundle of memories.