Surfer Surfing Magazine November 1981 Vol. 22 No. 11

Surfer is an American monthly periodical focused on surfing and surf culture, founded in 1962 by noted surfer, writer, photographer, artist and humorist John Severson (1933–2017).

John Severson originally created The Surfer as a collection of prints of his still surfing photography used to promote live screenings of his surfing movies. He gave them out as flyers at the shows, then after heavy requests for more decided to sell them. His first quarterly issues had a cover price of 75 cents and at the time the Surfer was the single most expensive magazine in the country.

Severson also wanted to counter the popular depiction of the sport and surf culture as seen in the 1959 film Gidget. In his 2014 book John Severson Surf, he wrote "surfers hated those Hollywood surf films, and I could see that Surfer could create a truer image of the sport." Severson's photography, art and humor set the tone for the future of Surfer, which quickly grew to reflect the sport and the culture, as well as become a voice for surfers and environmental activism.

Surfer Magazine became the de facto 'Bible' of the sport, and for decades was the number one source of inspiration and surf culture news in the world, The magazine was revered not just in the US, but in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, and all of Latin America & the Pacific. John Severson was also a talented graphic designer & painter, and Surfer was a visual treat, on trend, and groundbreaking in its design. Severson also established a tradition of including fiction, and from the very beginning, Surfer Magazine published short stories as a regular feature.