News & Blog by Tim Baker
Read the latest news and bulletins, essays, features, opinions from our bestselling authors. Find out what's being said, debated, and discussed in the world of books and ideas.
Having just driven 27,000 km over eight months with our family of four around this vast island nation of ours, I feel I can address the above question with some qualification. I’ve noted with interest the hand-wringing over the dire state of domestic tourism, detected Australia’s old cultural cringe coming to the fore in our stampede to declare our resorts outdated, our travel experiences...
You may have read recently about Kelly Slater’s record-breaking 10th world surfing title. It is a remarkable achievement. He won his first world title way back in 1992, at the age of 20, making him the youngest world champion ever. He has won his 10th 18 years later at the age of 38, meaning he also holds the record as the oldest world champ ever. He has won a record 45 career events, He has collected...
I’ve been asked a few times why I was interested in writing a book with Mick Fanning now, at the peak of his career. Sporting books are traditionally written when athletes retire and have more time on their hands to reflect on their careers, and as a bit of a launching pad into a new life after competitive sport. We worked on Mick’s book smack in between his two world titles so far, in 2007 and...
This time last year, Mick Fanning was preparing to go into battle for surfing’s world title in a two-man race with his childhood friend Joel Parkinson in Hawaii. The showdown for the title at Pipeline, on Oahu’s North Shore, was the central focus of world surfing. Joel had got to a runaway lead in the first half of the year, winning three of the first five events, and the engraver was almost ready...
It has been a wild couple of weeks in surfing, with the shocking death of three-time world champ Andy Irons, followed closely by Kelly Slater’s historic 10th world title victory. The surfing world has been mourning the untimely loss of one of its greatest champions while celebrating the unmatched achievements of his fiercest rival. Irons was traveling home to Hawaii from the latest world...
While in Sydney for the Manly Surf Festival recently, I managed to catch the Morning of the Earth concert at North Head. For those unfamiliar with the nostalgic MOTE cult, this involves a screening of the seminal 70’s, country soul surf flick, with a live performance of the soundtrack by many of the original musicians, joined by some contemporary ones. The fragrant aroma of the North Head sewage...
In the past couple of weeks I have sat through over 20 hours of surf movies. What madness is this, you may ask? Well, its part of the deal when you foolishly sign up to the selection panel for the first Yallingup Surf Film festival in WA in January. Now, I love my surf movies, but I have got to say, this exercise tested me. There was no shortage of worthy entries, and a few gems among them, but...
I was recently invited to take part in a debate on the above question, as part of the Surfrider Foundation’s annual conference on the Gold Coast. Thankfully, I was on the negative team. Surfrider is surfing’s peak environmental body, with chapters all over the world. The conference and debate was held at Southern Cross Uni and while a lot of the issues at hand are serious and sobering, the debate...
It was amazing to see the response to Mick Fanning’s new book Surf For Your Life at his signing at the Rip Curl store on Manly Corso last week, during the Manly Surf Festival. There was a queue halfway up the Corso and we were signing books for an hour and a half solid before we had to shut it down because Mick had to leave, with nearly 200 books sold and the punters still lined up. A couple of guys...
