“He Meant Everything”: Surfing Community Mourns the Saddening Loss of 99-Year-Old ‘Pioneer’

The ocean harbors some great waves within its infinity. In those waves lie the age-old stories of great surfers and trailblazers who took the sport to great pinnacles. One such pioneer who passed the patrimony of surfing from generation to generation was none other than Harry Mayo. Revered as ‘The Mayor of West Cliff’, Mayo left the world for his heavenly abode on 13th February 2023, leaving behind his legacy to ponder. 

Born on November 26, 1923, Harry Mayo spent 99 glorious years of his life dedicated to his love for surfing. From witnessing the WWII and great depression to being a spectator to the evolution of his favorite sport, Mayo had seen it all. This makes him a prominent part of surfing history. Today, as the surfing community mourns the loss of the legend, many surfers came forward to pay their heartfelt eulogies.

The surfing community pays their tributes to Harry Mayo

As per the report of Santa Cruz Sentinel, many from the surfing fraternity paid their earnest tributes to the surfing prodigy. Honoring the benefaction that Mayo left for the surfing fraternity, the 4x National Surfing Champion, Peter Mel, stated, “He meant everything.”

Expressing his unfeigned encomium for Mayo, Mel added, “I have nothing but respect for Mayo and the Santa Cruz Surf club”. Mayo’s demise is “a huge loss for Santa Cruz,” said the 4x National champion. 

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The 75-year-old longboarder and surf photographer Howard McGhee also expressed his eulogy for the surfer. McGhee stated, “He was something else”. Defining his prominence in the world of surfing, McGhee added, “He had 99 years under his belt. That’s a lot of stories, and most of it here in Santa Cruz”. Interestingly, to preserve the history of surfing, Harry Mayo founded the Santa Cruz museum to cherish the centuries-old stories revolving around the sport.

Mayo’s thought behind finding the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

In 1986, Harry Mayo, along with his friend Kim Stoner, established the roots of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. Mayo served as the club’s photo archivist. He donated his extensive photo collection to the museum in order to communicate the history of surfing to the people. Expressing his reverence towards the years-old pictures that Mayo captured, Stoner added, “If it wasn’t for him, that particular timeline would’ve been lost.”

Clearly, Harry Mayo left a hoard full of surfing bequests in the form of art that he clicked in his lens throughout his lifetime. It indeed is a great loss for the community. Rest In Peace, legend.

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