Parko + Friends: Good times on the road with the world's favourite surfer
Joel Parkinson’s 2009 world title runner up was the most publicised surf story of the year. Which makes author Sean Doherty’s decision to focus his book on all the peripheral characters, stories and events that make up life with the Coolangatta native an impressive piece of foresight. That and according to Doherty, Joel would have had all 50,000 copies pulped had they reflected the most painful moment of his career.
Stab: Would the book have changed direction if Joel took the world title? Or, is it more a travel book?
Sean Doherty: A few pages would’ve changed, but that’s about it. The book has nothing to do with the world title, which, considering what transpired was probably a good thing. The book would have ended up in landfill if that had been the case. The concept for the book pre-dated the start of Joel’s run at the world title last year, and we actively fought to keep all mentions of world title campaigns and the associated kiff out of there. Anything like that dates a book quicker than milk, and it was never what the book was about, anyway. We went to Hawaii in November last year with the book done, but if Joel had pulled a Hail Mary at Pipe and won the world title we would’ve ripped some pages out of the Hawaiian section and found a way to wedge that square peg into that round hole. The book is part campfire story, part bio, part photo showcase.
How many times did you try to sit down to lock down some interview time and you hear the sentence, "Can we just do it a bit later?"
About one out of every three, which actually wasn’t too bad. It beats weeks of unanswered calls or someone sitting opposite you at the table and remaining silent for an hour, both of which I’ve experienced in the past. And whenever Joel pulled that line he’d be so racked with guilt he’d be offering you boards to go surfing, or beers from his fridge, so it never became too grating. There was a lot of interviewing to put the thing together, 30-odd sessions with Joel and 40 interviews with his coterie, but they were easy yards and a lot of fun. It was pleasant not having to dig for dark episodes, working on a book that’s essentially about the simple joys of surfing.
How's the thrill of publishing yourself* with your own cash on the line?
Feels great to be the master of your own publishing empire, even if it is basically insolvent and run out of a garage full of spiders. After being at Tracks for years and being told by Scotsmen and Geordies how I should be running a surf mag, it was a refreshing change not being second-guessed by profit-drunk peanuts. Rolling our own cash into it, however, certainly prompted a greater deal of consideration when putting it together… no cartoon covers, certainly. I’m much braver spending other people’s money.
*Sean's two previous books, MP: The Story of Michael Peterson and My Brother's Keeper were both published by Harper Collins, Parko + Friends is his first book under his own publishing banner, Flying Pineapple media.
What's your favourite story within?
The story about Joel convincing his wife Monica to let him take a board on their honeymoon to Moorea, for sure. He eventually smuggled three, then the day they got there a freak swell hit Tamae, the righthander on the island that breaks about once every 300 years. It pumped for four days straight, and Joel would see Mon at breakfast and dinner and that’s about it.
What was the most surprising story revealed?
Joel bow hunting with Shane Dorian in Hawaii; Shano hunting boar, Joel hunting domesticated chickens.
And, after all of the photos and stories, if you had to do a month at any location in the book, where would it be and why?
Fiji, for sure. The waves are epic, the fish hungry, the decadence Western.
- Parko + Friends is available in bookstores and Billabong accounts from February 18 for $39.95 in Australia only for now.
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Reply #7 on : Wed February 10, 2010, 17:32:21