Pagan Son

The rise and fall of Bunker Spreckels

Late one afternoon in 1969, photographer Art Brewer took a stroll along O’ahu’s North Shore. At Pipeline beach, amid the world’s most sublime waves, Brewer encountered a boy who resembled a white-haired, blue-eyed Mowgli, clinging to an unusually short surfboard, 30 years before that design became the industry standard. “I’m Bunker Spreckels,” said the…