Pro Surfer Shaun Tomson to Release New Book
Author says Anacapa Students Were His Latest Inspiration
Tomson says that Anacapa students were the inspiration behind his latest work.
“This book was inspired not by the surf or by my international speaking engagements but by a small group of kids I spoke with at Anacapa School in Santa Barbara,” wrote Tomson in the new book’s introduction. The introduction continues:
I’d been invited to give a talk by (Anacapa) Headmaster Gordon Sichi, a surfer I met out at Rincon one day. After I spoke with the students and engaged in some lively discussion, I decided to give them an assignment. I told them I’d written the original Surfer’s Code in twenty minutes—a quick exercise to capture the essence of what was important to me. I told them, “Create your own code. Take twenty minutes and tell me about all your goals. Begin every sentence with the words ‘I Will.’” About a week later Gordon sent me their answers. They were beautiful, sensitive, full of humor and hope. In essence the kids wrote a series of promises they had made to themselves.
Tomson founded, managed and sold two $50 million clothing brands – Instinct in the 1980’s and Solitude in the 1990’s. He is a business administration and finance graduate from the University of Natal and an inductee in the U.S. Surfing Hall of Fame, Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the South African Sports Hall of Fame. He has been described as one of the greatest surfers of all time and one of the most influential surfers of the century.
In 2004, Tomson was at the pinnacle of his professional and personal life as a former world-champion surfer, a successful entrepreneur and an inspirational speaker, when his 15-year-old son, Mathew, died in a tragic accident.
Tomson says “The Code” is about “faith, courage, creativity, determination. the promises we make to ourselves about the future.” He hopes that the book inspires its readers to “believe in the power that each and every one of us has to effect change.”
Members of the news media are encouraged to attend the Wednesday morning event to meet the author. Additional information and pre-arrangements can be made by contacting Levi C. Maaia (see the contact information below).
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Anacapa School is an independent, co-educational, WASC–accredited, college preparatory day school for students in grades 7-12. Founded in 1981 by Headmaster Gordon Sichi, Anacapa enjoys the best student-teacher ratio of any school, public or private, in Santa Barbara at its historic campus located in the heart of the Santa Barbara civic center.
