New Book Shares 12 Epic Surf Stories By 12 Legendary Scribes

And therein lies the magic and beauty of Lebenthal's work. If you can get somebody to fall in love with something, it makes it a heck of a lot easier to convince them it's important enough to protect it. And that's where the art of storytelling comes in.

It's a theme that runs throughout the stories found in the book and Lebenthal's work in general. The founder of the digital publication Style of Sport, she endeavors to celebrate the intersection of fashion, design, art, news, and culture. Besides "Surf Stories," she's the co-author of "Stoked: The Evolution of Action Sports," as well as worked as a photography and visual director for a host of Condé Nast publications including Allure, Women’s Sports & Fitness, and SELF.

Perhaps a bit biased, my favorite story in the book is George's account of Hamilton's mythic ride that landed on the cover of the August 2000 cover of SURFER magazine. Less than a year after the cover ran, George hired me as an Associate Editor at SURFER and my fate was sealed. Twenty-five years later, here we are.

"It was the third week of August in 2000, and I arrived at the Capistrano Beach offices of SURFER magazine at my usual time," writes George.

It's worth noting here, his "usual" time was somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 am depending on how good the surf at San Onofre was. He was in the midst of falling in love with standup paddle surfing at the time (thanks in large part to Hamilton), and was always more than keen to put the edit duties on hold when the waves were good. Really, why else work at SURFER? Wasn't that the point?

"I felt it as soon as I walked in the door and saw the magazine's associate editor, photo editor, art director, and even publisher standing together in postures of contained expectation, as if they'd all been waiting for me to arrive," George continues.

"'We got McKenna's photos from Tahiti,"' said someone (just who I honestly don't remember). But I knew exactly what they were talking about," he adds.

You'll have to pick up a copy of the book to find out what happens next. There's so much goodness crammed in "Surf Stories." As they say in the book business, it's a real page turner.