Yesterday (5/6) Artist and former Professional Surfer Shawn Barron died at age 44 in Santa Cruz. I didn’t know him personally, but growing up he was a major influence on my surfing life. I remember watching the above clip of him doing a barrel roll in one of Volcom’s early surf films. It blew my mind. Barron surfed so different from the rest of the pack. The man pulled some of the gnarliest airs, charged crazy Mavericks and from what I gather was an all around good guy.
Barney came out of a time when surfing was so open and diverse stylistically. He was at the forefront of the aerial revolution. It was guys like him who paved the way for all the seeming impossible stuff that is being pulled today. I had the pleasure of meeting Shawn briefly at an autograph signing and surf demo back in 2003 in New Jersey. I just remember him being full of life and he even pushed some of the groms into waves after the demo was over. Its a shame of his untimely passing, but I think there is not one of us around who can’t say the man didn’t live a remarkable life.
Surfing Ruined My Life 