Story by Alex Weinstein | Portrait by Patricia Von Ah|Edit Project for The Surfer’s Journal

In addition to being a longtime journalist, Alex Weinstein is also an established commercial artist and a surfer. He’s been contributing to TSJ for years, working almost as an arts feature writer for the magazine. When I arrived on the edit staff, I quickly figured out that he was the type of asset who, whenever he emailed, had a completely thorough pitch, from imagery-sourcing to angle to story. Contributors like that are a security blanket for any editor, no matter where you sit on the masthead. This was the last piece I worked on with him before I moved on to my current job in communications and, like all the rest, it’s thoughtful, informed, rigorous, and completely immersed in its subject matter.