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Chuck
Dent: Local Hero 1998 & Honor Roll 2011
Chuck Dent knew how to attract attention. The man who
once described himself as "the original angry young
man of surfing" had a knack for salesmanship. Even
though he wasn't the best surfer in town, his ability
to cultivate an image as a great surfer compensated
for athletic shortcomings. Before Dent died of a heart
attack in 1980, at the age of 35, he had managed to
create a cult following in the local Huntington Beach
surf community. He was larger than life, always in character,
whether he was cruising around downtown in his chocolate
brown Cadillac, in his surf shop telling stories to
the neighborhood groms, or in the middle of a party.
Dent commanded a crowd, liked being the center of attention,
and wouldn't have had it any other way. It was Dent
who modernized the surf industry. He took the original
idea of a surf shop - where the only merchandise available
were surfboards, wetsuits, leashes, and wax and turned
them into the full-service surf retailers they have
all become today.
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PHOTO: When the daily 11am summer surfing curfew warning blasts out from lifeguard station zero on the pier, three young surfers demonstrated...L to R Johnny "Frog" Van Oeffelen, Johnny "Hot Dog" Boozer and Chuck "Profile" Dent. Archive photo, HB News Photo.
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Dent stopped surfing on a regular basis the last few years
of his life. But once a year he would walk down Main Street
with his board, and all the locals would shuffle out from
wherever they were hiding, knowing that it was time for
another of Chuck's annual rides. As a crowd they gathered
to watch the one-man parade, Dent would paddle out, take
one ride and come in satisfied enough to continue calling
himself surfer.
Even though he's gone, Chuck Dent's legend continues to
live on. Besides the two surf shops in Huntington Beach
that bear his name, people around Huntington Beach still
bring up stories about Dent, recalling his wild antics,
unique flair for business, and how above all, he stood
for fun and individualism at any cost. |
