Michael Peterson was once considered the greatest competitive surfer in the world and is a paranoid schizophrenic
Known simply as "MP" in his home country, Michael Peterson dominated the Australian pro surfing circuit for much of the seventies, going on to win Pro Surfing's first official World Tour event, the Stubbies Classic, in 1977.
According to Nick Carrol at Surfline, Michael Peterson "(had) a full-power style that combined an acute tube sense with fast, deep rail carves." The 1971 surf film, Morning of the Earth, showcases Michael Peterson's talent.
Over the course of the decade, Michael Peterson's personal behavior became increasingly erratic as he struggled to deal with the onset of paranoid schizophrenia. His medication of choice was heroin.
His life story was chronicled in a book, MP: The Life of Michael Peterson, by Sean Doherty (Harper Collins, 2004).
posted by Halcyon at 10:00 AM
2 Comments:
Michael Peterson was the heart of Australian surfing in the mid to late 70's and the impetus for what has come since for competitive surfing.
He was raised in aguably the heartland of surfing in Australia, Coolangatta and left an indelible legacy that continues decades later and will continue to.
His surfing style was powerful and agressive yet sleek and masterful. He was feared as a competitor and always had the best in the world thinking.
Micheal Peterson was a surfing purist of the 70's and was were style and form commenced for many although tainted by his immense struggle with his growing disability that was only evident to the general public much later this struggle only served to enhance his mysterious persona. His dominance of the sport in Australia and overseas in a period that saw at times 8 or more of the top 10 surfers in the world coming from Australia was simply awe inspiring to any young teenager following his career through Tracks and Surfing World magazine every month during that period. Although his stay at the top was comparitively brief to others that followed in his wake not many bar perhaps Kelly Slater since can eclipse his unique mastery of the sport in and out of the water. MP was an original one off who crossed over from amateur competition and mastered pro surfing with ease with one of his best efforts being dominance of the first man on man competition ever held, the 1977 Stubbies the final winning against a young Mark Richards who later won 4 world surfing crowns .
Gary, Sandon Point, NSW Australia
mp is a fucking lord
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