In memory of our brother Mark... The man who had the vision of our North Shore Paradise.

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Mark Foo I lived with Mark Foo in "Foo' Zoo" at Waimea Bay during the winter of 1980/1981 for three months. He picked me up at the airport with his girlfriend around midnight. His house was full of surfers paying for lodging. Guys came from Australia (70 Australian National Champion Andrew Mckinnon, England (The "Pommies" from Cornwall), The Gulf Coast (longtime friend of Mark's from Pensacola), Florida (Matt Kechele when he was very small and skinny) and the Poling brothers, filming the action), Sweden (a 40 year old skier who was far out), California (some guys from Carlsbad), and yours truly from San Clemente. Mark first surfed Waimea Bay that year, wiped out badly on a huge board he borrowed from a neighbor, in the Duke contest. Bradshaw got a tube ride, and finished last in his heat! Contests are a joke. Anyways, I met Mark's family: his sister, his father, and mother, and was impressed with their intelligence. I wasn't surfing well then because I was out of shape, overweight, but I got a lot of good surf despite myself, and learned a lot of secrect spots from Mark. Mark was a very intense guy. He liked you or hated you. With me it was both. I remember one time I was trying to starve myself to loose weight, and I broke down and ate some Hagen-Dais "Rum Raisin" that was Mark's; I thought it belonged to this stupid girl named Dolpin that had stolen food from me. Another time he commanded (he should have asked) me to help move some furniture so I ignored him, boy, did he get mad. I remember him giving me the finger and then running away. Oh, I remember Timmy Carvalho and Bud Llamas lived in the house in back of Mark's house. Timmy got so stoked one day when he was on the cover of "Surfing" magazine, riding at Sunset. He came running up the stairs with the issue jabbering away. Timmy brought me a six pack of Heineken on my last day in Hawaii. I remember that Timmy respected Mark Foo. I think a lot of people did because Mark was so dedicated to the sport, so intelligent, and so intense. I know I did. When I left I brought a board I purchased from Mark, a 7'4" Sunset gun,"Hawaiian Vibration" that I later sold to "Furdog" from San Clemente, a good friend of mine. Actually, I traded it for a watch I still wear. I think a little bit of Mark Foo rubbed off on Furdog because Furdog is the oldest hardcore surfer left in San Clemente that still surfs a shortboard. I think Mark's surfing peaked two or three years after that. Surfing is a hard sport to excel in for a lot of people. Mark was not a natural; he earned his success. I still owe him a carton of Rum Raisin ice cream! The next time I'm in Hawaii I think I'll walk down to Sunset Beach, where Mark loved surfing the most, and throw one to him. - Sent to us here at Backpackers Click on each image to see a larger copy of it. DEAR, ALL WHO READS THE FRIST TIME I EVER HEARD OF MARK FOO WAS IN 1990 WHEN HE WAS ON MTV SPORTS.WHEN I SAW THIS FOOTAGE OF FOO, IT GAVE ME ALOT OF INSPERATION BECAUSE HE WAS SO DEDICATED TO A SPORT THAT HAD ONE TIME, SORTA FELL THROUGH THE CRACKS OF LIFE.AT THIS TIME, I HAD ALREADY BEEN SURFING FOR A YEAR,BUT I WASN'T AS HARDCORE AS I AM TODAY, THANKS TO MARK. WHEN LEARNINIG ABOUT MARK'S DEATH, IT WAS LIKE KILING A PART OF EVERY SURFER WHO HAS ACTUALLY WATCHED AND FOLLOWED FOO.I WATCHED HOW THE GROUP OF SURFERS GATHERED OUT IN A CIRCLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MIGHTY OCEAN TO FELL MARKS'S SPRIT ONE MORE TIME. BUT THIS WAS NOT THE LAST TIME PEOPLE WOULD THINK OF FOO.THEY WOULD THINK OF HIM EVER TIME THEY CAUGHT A KILLER WAVE OR EVERY TIME THEY HEARD THE WORD "MAVERICKS." "MARK FOO WILL LIVE IN ALL SURFERS, PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE" SURFING ALWAYS, - Kevin Magee Mark, It's been almost two years now since you have left us. In a few weeks I will be back in Hawaii for 14 days of surfing. It has not been the same since you have been gone. But every once in a while I see that smile on your face when you got a peak to yourself at Sunset, or that anxious look when you knew a big swell was coming and you had to be on it. You are missed but not forgotten. Aloha Keith Head "E-mail to Heaven" Mark Foo was an inspiration to us all, and each of us feels his loss in a different way. If you have something you would like to say to Mark, or have a story or tale you would like to share about him, please click on the button below. Like Us on Facebook