Fred Van Dyke

A Surfing Legend

Spring 1946 Graduate

        A native San Francisco who challenged the waves off Ocean Beach while at Lincoln, Fred graduated from San Francisco State in 1950 with a B.A. in English, earning his secondary teaching credential in 1951.  Fred first taught at San Lorenzo Valley High School from 1951 to 1955 where he was Athletic Director and coached football, basketball, track, and swimming.  In 1955 he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii and for thirty years at Punahou School he taught science, English, creative writing, and coached football, diving and gymnastics.

        But Fred’s surfing prowess drew him to the thirty foot waves at Makaha Point where he became a surfing legend. After helping John Severson create Surfer Magazine, Fred became the subject of numerous articles. He not only has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Life, Men’s Fitness, Modern Maturity, Surfer and Prevention Magazine, among others, but was also featured in the award winning documentary Surfing for Life, in 1999. But Fred was no stranger to the movies. He had already appeared as a surfer in 1960’s Beach Blanket Bingo and Ride, Ride the Wild Surf. In 1966 he created and directed the Duke Kahanamoku International Surfing Championships for ABC’s Wild World of Sports which ran until 1972. He has been interviewed countless times, by such television journalists as Peter Jennings, Keith Jackson, Jim McKay and Howard Cosell as well as appearing on Good Morning America.

        After retiring from Punahou, Fred embarked on a new career as an author. In 1989, his Thirty Years of Riding the World’s Biggest Waves was published becoming a surfing classic. It was followed by Surfing Huge Waves with Ease in 1992, Once Upon a Wilderness in 1993, Two Surf Stories for Children in 1994 and Once Upon Abundance in 2001. His books have made him a national treasure in one reviewer’s opinion. A tireless volunteer for numerous charities, including the American Cancer Society, Junior Lifeguard Program and Saving Hawaii’s Beaches, Fred has been honored for his unselfish volunteerism receiving Honolulu’s Mayor Frank Fast Award for Community Service and the Governor of Hawaii John Burns Award for Conservation.

        In recognition of him many accomplishments, Fred was inducted into the Abraham Lincoln High School Wall of Fame in May 2002.