Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2026 September 04 • Friday

This is the February 1968 issue of Mr. magazine.

I picked it up because of the Robert Mitchum piece mentioned on the cover but that turned out to be pretty dull, just a standard brief biographical sketch.

Inside, though, was a surfing short story: "Ride a Tall Wave" by Basil Edwards.

It's very short and is about a middle-aged married man with children, bored and unfulfilled in his typical, middle-class life, on a solo three-week vacation.

The story starts on his last day before going back home. He's on a Polynesian island and has been surfing every day and wishing he had made some different decisions when he was younger.

On his last night he takes a walk along the beach by himself and comes upon a beautiful surf board on the beach with no one around.

He decides to take a ride on it, just one last one. And what happens next is the story.

It's pretty melancholy. Imagine a much quieter and scaled down version of "The Swimmer" or something like that.