William Finnegan

The author and protagonist of the book, Finnegan was born in New York City and then lived with his parents, Patricia and Big Bill Finnegan, in Woodland Hills in southern California before moving for a time to Hawaii when he was in 8th grade. He became interested in surfing at around age 10, and has been a lifelong surfer.

After graduating from high school, he attended University of California at Santa Cruz and studied under Norman O. Brown. He then worked as a lineman on the railroad and received a master's degree from University of Montana. He spent time traveling in the South Pacific with his friend and fellow writer, Bryan Di Salvatore.

Later, after living in South Africa during Apartheid and writing about it, he became a writer for the New Yorker magazine, writing about political issues and surfing. He married Caroline Rule, an artist who...