Leroy Grannis and the Print - 2004

In the fall of 2004 I was working at Transworld Skateboarding Magazine in Oceanside. One slow afternoon I was looking up Leroy Grannis on Google, not for work but for purely personal reasons. I had always loved his rich photography and the way he captured a golden era in surfing. For years he was known for selling 8 1/2 x 11" black and white prints of his all time greatest photos and outtakes that he would sign and stamp on the back. Up until a few years ago you could find them on Ebay for about $25 bucks.

Eddie. Photo:Grannis

As I searched, I stumbled onto a very rudimentary website that had his famous logo. Upon looking a bit further i discovered that this site was actually Leroy's. He even had an email address listed at the bottom. Well I took a shot in the dark and started to draft an email that I was sure would never reach him but was fun to write none-the-less. I wrote of how I was a fan of his photography and that I surfed with Skip Frye on occasion and was hoping he had a print of Skip that I could possibly purchase. With a hope and a prayer I pressed "send."

Leroy and his logo

A couple of weeks passed and I had all but forgotten about the email. Life, work and kids tend to help erase the mind of trivial events. Not that this was trivial, but compared to everything I had going on, It just didn't rank on my "shit to do" list. So on a Monday, I get to work and in my inbox, there is an email from Leroy Grannis. As my heart raced a little faster I opened the email and it said, "Sorry I don't sell prints anymore. I have a book deal coming and legally cant sell them anymore, but..."

No Way! There was a "but"... I was tingling with hope.

"...but" he continued,  "I might be able to print you a copy of a photo of Skip. Just as long as you don't advertise it"

Leroy Grannis

"Don't advertise it", I love the way the old guard spoke. I was beside myself with stoke. We went back and forth on a couple of emails and he said to meet him Monday after work at his house in Carlsbad. YES! As the week went on I could hardly wait for the following Monday to come. I had once owned a rad Grannis print that I bought off of Ebay. Unfortunately during a rough period, I had to close my skate shop. Many things got lost in the process including a black and white shot of a smiling Skip in full trim at  San Miguel during a contest from the mid 60's.

SanO Photo:Grannis

Monday had now arrived and as the day progressed the build up of excitement grew. Five O'clock came around and I was out the door and flying down the freeway to get to his house before the Monday Night Football game started. He mentioned that the Chargers were playing and I should get there before the game started so I wouldn't interrupt. He said that once he and his wife sit down to watch they really don't get up. The gas pedal was on the floor as I drove.

I got to a quaint little mobile home park and was buzzed in. At a small unassuming house on the left a small old man was on his porch with a folder in hand. Even though he was old, he was very sharp and carried himself well. I parked, got out and shook his hand. I was going to go into some long form speech of how great of an honor it is to meet him and how his photography has been so inspiring to me. Instead of all that, Leroy greeted me with a "The game is about to start and I have to get my wife comfortable...here you go" With that, he handed me the folder and he shuffled back towards his doorway.  Our meeting was over before it began. We exchanged a quick goodbye and our 4 minute meeting was over. I didn't want to be rude and look in the folder while still standing there so I got back in the car and drove out to the main street.

I immediately pulled opened the folder to check out the stash. There was a printed out spread from his upcoming book and on it was Miki Dora dropping in at Waimea Bay. It was printed on regular printer paper but I was stoked he gave it to me as an added bonus. The next thing was the Skip photograph. As I turned it over my stoke fell flat. It too was printed off of a desk jet. On regular printing paper. And if anything, it looked fuzzy like the ink was running out. It definitely wasn't the sharp clear photo stock that his famous photos were once printed on. On the long drive back to my house I listened to the Charger game and thought of my one chance to get this photo from Leroy and how it wasn't all I had built it up to be. This was the definition of "letdown". Give it a look in the dictionary. You'll see me  standing there with paper print in hand. In fact, i was so bummed, the photo was kept in the folder and when I went home I tossed it in my backyard shed and there it sat for the next four years.

The printed Dora page

In 2008 I left my house and most of my belongings as I started my divorce. As I packed my car with my surfboards and my most valuable personal effects, I went into my shed one last time to look around. On the ground behind a lawnmower was a grease covered folder that I didn't recognize. Upon further inspection, I was stoked to look inside and see the Granny photo. The memory of that day came rushing back. The hope, the foolish feeling of disappointment but also the stoke of getting to meet with Leroy. The look in his eyes and the sound of his voice left an impression on me.

The Leroy Grannis Book from Taschen

Its funny how when one gets older we start to see things differently. Maybe its the life experience or maybe you just take things for what they are. Either way, looking back on it, here was a legend in the world of surfing who took the time to print me a photo. A photo that he legally wasn't allowed to give me due to a deal he made with his book publisher. Not to mention he didn't know me or owe me anything. He could have told me to buzz off or even worse, could have never emailed me back. Instead, he took a timeout from caring for his ill wife to dig up a photo of Skip, print it out and sign it like he had done for years for so many lucky people. I had a piece of history given to me from Leroy. In hindsight, its now one of my most prized possessions.

Heres the print...Skip Frye in Puerto Rico  Photo: Grannis

Leroy passed away in February of this year. I was very sad to hear this news but it wasn't totally unexpected. He had a slow decline the past few years from what I have read. I still have the picture he gave me tipped into a copy of his book that came out from Taschen Publishing. Oh the irony... this company bought Leroy's imagery and then forbid him from profiting or using it after that point. A man who, for years, loved to share his prints with people wasn't allowed to do so his last few years. While I'm happy there is a book that will live on and let us enjoy the wonderful pictures Granny took, I'm also saddened about the lack of Soul and lack of understanding of Taschen.

I was fortunate to meet Granny and even more fortunate to get that one last print, even if it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. In the end, its much better than anything I could have hoped for.