Mike Hynson... Dead or Alive???

Just saw “Endless Summer Revisited” on OLN. Well worth the time watching but… no interview with Mike Hynson at all. Didn’t really mention him in the present. It was like he didn’t exist anymore.

Is he still with us? Hope so.

GiantsFan.

Hynson LIVES or so I’ve heard…he was predisposed during the Interview window and no longer the poster boy he was in '65… HYNSON LIVES repeat after me HYNSON LIVES and he is the original not a copy…ambrose …credit the survivor

Michael Lear Hynson , master shaper, great surfer , classic real deal, scratch golfer,has in his time pissed-off more than a few people including the Endless Bummer folks, hence no interveiw. Mitch is his go between or bookie, I’m not sure which. If you see or talk to him tell him he should of taken me up on the Chicken Ranch deal. McDing

Can anyone elaborate on what happened that Mike Hynson has been shunned by the surf media machine? No offense to Robert August but he seems to have created a pretty nice living for himself as “that guy that was in Endless Summer” whereas Hynson seems to have disappeared. It can’t just be that he was a bad guy, can it? Surf history seems to be full of characters as well known for their bad behavior as they are for their surfing.

Robert August is a shaper and owner of his own board making company.

The little I’ve talked to Mike, he’s a free spirit, his own man, goes his own way, and makes his own choices.

He was mentioned but only in passing… something about being “different”, “marching to his own drum”, that sort of thing.

No Teeth but ALIVE

He’s making boards and selling them here in San Diego.

He had a falling out with Bruce Brown a while back. I think they may have patched it up (or not), but that’s what happened. So a lot of the reunion stuff didn’t include him. I think he felt that he didn’t get paid what was promised for Endless Summer, but I might be talking out my arse.

His boards are really cool. They are in Longboard Grotto, and other places.

Check these out…

http://www.trimblephoto.com/NEW%20HY%202004%20WEB/Hynson%20Enter%20page.htm

http://www.sandiegomag.com/issues/july01/endless.shtml

Quote:

He’s making boards and selling them here in San Diego.

He had a falling out with Bruce Brown a while back. I think they may have patched it up (or not), but that’s what happened. So a lot of the reunion stuff didn’t include him. I think he felt that he didn’t get paid what was promised for Endless Summer, but I might be talking out my arse.

His boards are really cool. They are in Longboard Grotto, and other places.

that’s what i heard, too. Robert August and Bruce Brown made buttloads of money from Endless Summer, and didn’t exactly share the wealth. basically, they screwed him out of everything, so i’m not the least bit surprised that he isn’t doing promotional work and whatnot in things like “The Endless Summer: Revisited”.

Sounds like if he just played along with the boyz he would have made boat loads of cash too. After that movie he had the surfing world by the ballz. Mike wanted to follow his own course, thats fine. We all have to live with the decisions we make along the way, and Mike might have made a few too many bad ones, like pissing the boyz off.

Hynson was my hero in the mid 60s, though I never met him until last fall. His reputation runs way ahead of him and I truthfully didn’t expect much prior to knowing him. Through a mutual friend we ended up spending an afternoon together. Had lunch and visited a while here at my shop where he purchased one of my old Rockwell planers for shaping some solid wood Ali’i boards. I found him very calm, easy going, and a pleasure to visit with. He critiqued one of my balsa boards which I very much appreciated. Watched him shape a board, and he’s still got it, maybe as much or more than ever. I’m proud to own a Dora tribute board he shaped recently. I’m probably coming across as a name-dropper who runs in Hynson’s inner circles, but that’s far from the truth. Spent that one afternoon with him however, and can vouch that he’s still around and it was an honor for me to spend a little time with one of surfing’s all-time icons.

Hi,

Mike Hynson is still allive and still shaping. look at these boards on sale on a Japanese online surfshop (www.soulglidesurf.com). The red one shaped in collaboration with joel tudor is wonderfull.

And have a look at this japanese website: the boards they sale are a dream.


here is the red one!

bon surf,

benoit from France

sorry… here it is now

Thanks for digging this one up again. I had forgotten about the Hynson thread, and it made me smile checking it out. As one can tell from reading the posts, there are a lot of misconceptions about Mike. I’m so glad to hear he is still shaping boards because he was one of the real innovators in the evolution of surfboards. Once in a while a few make it up this way on the South Central Coast.

Also, I don’t think we have to worry about the aspect of name dropping. If I look at it that way, I do it all the time. I prefer to see it as helping out my hard working compatriots who have a hard enough time making a living. At least with BB’s like this one, it opens up the narrow, regional markets to more of a universal type situation. I like hearing about all of the craftsman scattered about, not only this country, but the world. In a few short years I have witnessed individuals who are just a one man show; market their boards’ world wide. It’s so cool, and unbelievable.

over the past couple years Ive seen a couple o’hynson mocels that wernt what I expected quality…these photo reprints are stokers the proportions are respectable and templates are enviably bitchin’ deluxe a-go go with cheese and secret sauce…hynson not only survives ,HE LIVES IN CLARITY AND IS CONNECTED TO THE PRIMORDIAL JUICE,go daddy GO …do itto the body english tune and lead like only you can…the man is gettin serious and its good…ambrose…I can hear the diff jug band playing the HYNSON MODEL SONG

Watched Rainbow Bridge the other day. Didn’t realize Hynson was a ‘major’ part of that flick. Probably '68-'69 on Maui they were ingesting serious doses of LSD daily with flower children looking for enlitenment through meditation and chemicals. Jimi Hendrix and Hynson. Back then you could have made Mike the poster child of a blonde surf god, perfect good looks and talent. Unfortunately LSD ravaged through his and many others brains and it wasn’t repairable. Man, i bet he has some interesting stories fron that era! Nuuhiwa was also in that flick, he was surfing, couldn’t help but notice him hacking and stuffing competant surfers on waves as he dropped in on them on the shoulder of 3-4 ft waves. The peace and love generation and the summer of '69 had a signifigant impact on the minds of young men who are now fathers/grandfathers themselves. Good luck Mike Hynson. Kind of depressing how some hero’s fall so hard. Hynson, Purpose, Dobson, Bertleman, Buttons, many others…drugs suck.

Agree drugs do suck. Past mistakes suck, it’s what we do after them that counts. My perception and judgement of Hynson is based on the afternoon I spent with him - a nice guy who seems to have aged into a good soul. I know you’ll agree with me, that I think we need more folks around us that have failed but stood back up than we do the ones with a “tude” and have only experienced “the good times”. I found perhaps that Hynson’s aged lines evidence some of where he’s been, but found also that his smile and spirit show where he might be headed. Stay on it Mike! I think he’s finally enjoying the ride!

Lessons learned in the school of hard knocks aren’t soon forgotten.