Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life

William Finnegan’s mother, Pat Finnegan, was the descendant of Irish farmers in West Virginia. She grew up in poverty during the Great Depression. Finnegan remembers his mother as a very social and intellectual woman who was positive and forward-looking. He credits her open-mindedness with helping make their big move to Hawaii a success, since he later learned that she never really liked it. Pat Finnegan was politically liberal and supported the civil rights movement; the author recalls how she hated the “provincialism” and “country club racists” she encountered in Hawaii. By describing his mother’s love of literature and open-minded approach to life, Finnegan helps convey how he came to develop the same traits.

The author’s father, William Finnegan Sr., was originally from New York, where he worked as a news writer for CBS and was active in the labor movement as a passionate supporter of unions. His politics made finding work difficult, and in the 1950s, he and his family moved to California, where he began working in film. The author recalls his father’s consistent support of the civil rights movement, which made him an outlier in their conservative Californian suburban community.

The author describes his father’s famously large physique, which earned him the nickname “Big Bill Finnegan,” and remembers his earnest and emotional advice about how to stay safe from bullies. An avid sailor, Finnegan Sr. encouraged his son to challenge himself at surfing when he was still learning and later encouraged his writing ambitions. Finnegan quotes his father’s comment that their family had always been “lucky” and “dumb,” referring to their intense curiosity and risk-taking behavior. By describing his father’s personality and politics, the author demonstrates how his father’s influence shaped him, from his love of the water to his liberal politics and taste for adventure.

One of the first people Finnegan befriended when he moved to Hawaii as a child in the 1960s was Roddy Kaulukukui. A native Hawaiian, Roddy was Finnegan’s age, and they attended the same school. Befriending Roddy gave Finnegan a surfing companion who was at his level, and the two often surfed together. Roddy helped Finnegan understand the local surf culture better, explaining who the local surfers were and how to safely catch waves. In addition, he taught Finnegan about some aspects of Hawaiian culture, such as the Indigenous religion, which Roddy believed in, and the pidgin dialect he spoke.

Roddy’s older brother, Glenn Kaulukukui, was an excellent surfer. Like the other local kids, he attended Kaimuki Intermediate school. Glenn was a kind and supportive friend to Finnegan and soon became his surfing role model. Finnegan learned about surfing by observing Glenn catch waves and took his advice whenever he could. When Finnegan introduced the Kaulukukui brothers to his other friends from Kaimuki, he credits Glenn’s “cool” personality with helping the two groups become fast friends despite their different racial backgrounds. Finnegan recounts seeing Glenn surf as an adult and learning that he was a professional surfer; he remembers his joy at seeing his “boyhood idol grown into a man” (155).

A close friend of Finnegan’s, Bryan Di Salvatore played a large part in his youth. After meeting in Hawaii, the two stayed in touch and later traveled together across the South Pacific and Australia for more than a year. Finnegan describes young Bryan as “a surfer, scholar, and stunningly kind older gentleman of 22” (112) who loaned him his car. During their travels, Bryan tended to value stability, while Finnegan preferred spontaneity, resulting in some tension between the two. However, they had much in common, including shared humor and values and a plethora of secret references and inside jokes based on their extensive time surfing together. However, they had very different writing styles, making it a challenge for them to collaborate on surfing and travel articles the way that they’d hoped. In describing his close and occasionally tumultuous friendship with Bryan, the author shows how surfing bonded them deeply and motivated them to overcome differences and challenges during their travels together.

In his book, Finnegan includes many stories about Caryn, his “first serious girlfriend” (105) while the two were teens. They traveled to Europe together as 17-year-olds and then moved to Lahaina a couple years later. Finnegan characterizes Caryn as wise beyond her years after a difficult childhood and describes her disillusionment with the hippie movement. The author’s frank memories of his time with Caryn reveal that, in hindsight, he feels that he was stubborn and controlling. His grief after their breakup, and his desire to win her back, shows his investment in the relationship and her lasting impression on him.