Jack Meyer

 “A sparkle in his eye... a passion in his soul… magic in his hands.  Jack¹s
 spirit and his life were a special gift to us from God.  You meet very few
 people on life¹s journey with Jack¹s uncanny ability to make your heart
 smile.”   Bob Hurley and Family

Surfing lost one of its best when Jack Meyer passed. From New Jersey to Florida to California to Hawaii and even Tahiti, those who’d surfed, worked, or laughed with Jack mourned a friend.
As a sales rep for Dragon, OP, Señor Lopez, and Local Motion for close to 20 years, Meyer lived and worked in San Clemente and Santa Barbara. In addition to his work as a rep, he was commissioned to paint surfboards for board manufacturers like Local Motion and Channel Islands. If you have a surfboard from the late 70’s or 80’s with some artwork on it, check the board, it’s probably one of Jack’s pieces. As far as apparel, his designs were featured in lines of companies as big as Billabong.

”You're always there for us...as a friend, as a wise tribal elder, as an
artist, as a visionary, as a mentor, as a critical eye, as a humorous
heckler, as a wingman, as a surf buddy, but most of all, you were always
there as one of us... as a bro.”   Bob McKnight

My most vivid memory of Jack took place at Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey in September of 1999. A small 20ft fishing boat with two men on board stalled very close to the impact zone of a four to seven foot hurricane swell. Jack immediately recognized the danger and began to paddle closer to the boat to speak with the men. When an outside set broke right on top of the boat and capsized it, Jack Meyer was the first of many surfers to lead the charge to save the two men. The boat came to rest, still capsized, and one of the fishermen came up clinging to the prop and holding on for dear life. Jack paddled straight over and positioned himself between the man, the prop and the next set that was about to hit.  When the set finished, the boat was ghost riding the white water in to shore and there was Jack, the drowning man still holding on tightly.  For the next hour and a half, Jack, a group of brave surfers and lifeguards engaged in a rescue in which they were battling hurricane surf, dangerous river-like rip currents, and fatigue to save the two men’s lives. The scene was inspiring. Jack and the other rescuers would later receive honors from the Mayor, city, newspapers, and community.  After getting to know Jack, you knew he was only doing what came natural to him and few other men -- no matter the danger, Jack would risk his life to save complete strangers.

“Jack was the Buzzy Trent of our group of surfing people, he was most of our
inspirations to stay in shape in our mid-life surfing program. He was a
phenomenal athlete, tri-athlete, and Ironman. Jackie was a true friend, waterman, artist and surfing compadre, not to mention my neighbor.”   Bruce Chrisner

I can’t describe the sense of loss I felt after I heard of Jack’s passing. What I can say is that it was a privilege to have known a man like Jack Meyer. Growing up as a grom surfing Manasquan Inlet New Jersey, Jack served as one of my surf mentors and a great friend. Whether it was the warmest hurricane swell or the 39-degree water during the winter, we surfed some great waves together for quite a few years. I take comfort in those memories. Everyone should be so blessed to know a man like Jack Meyer and call him a friend. My friend, you will be missed, but never forgotten.

Photo - John Cocozza Photography Inc.