The Surf World Loses a Legend: Warren Bolster - 1947-2006

Warren Bolster

"I'll remember Warren as I last saw him, paddling around with a lot of his old friends this late summer in Waikiki, at the Duke Kahanamoku longboard championships," says Bernie Baker, a longtime friend and fellow lensman. "He was happy, laughing, plenty of jokes between all of them and he looked the best I had seen him in years taking into account his hip surgery. Its always nice to see a genius, as he was, in a good state of mind, instead of that tortured soul attitude."

Grant Ellis now fills the Photo Editor position that Warren did in the 70s and 80s. Ellis understands how the pressures of his position and the emotional and financial roller coaster of professional surf photography can drive a man to distraction: "I never got to meet Warren in person but I spoke to him often on the phone and he was always excited about his next project. We just ran one of his camera board shots in the Photo Annual and he was pretty stoked. I think he was a very innovative photographer and was always trying to push surf photography to new levels with camera boards and Gyro Camera stabilizers. His shot of the guy skating the Big Pipe out in the desert that is on the cover of his skateboard photo book is one of my all time favorites."

A friend of Bolsters who was active in skateboarding in the 70s and 80s said that the photographer had been struggling: "Warren had been taking Oxycontin for years because he had debilitating arthritis. He'd go on it and come off and he had called me many times, threatening suicide, because he was in pain and he was broke. A few years ago he went to a very expensive rehab in Laguna Beach, and I picked him up when he came out and took him to ASR. This is so sad. I think about him every day and I was going to call him."

Warren Bolster is survived by his sons, Edward and Warren Junior. His father, Edward, passed away in 2004. Bolsters sister was the personal secretary to Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist for many years.