“What exactly makes an Immortal? It varies from sport to sport, of course, and is an imprecise mix of fame, prodigious talent, competitive success, remarkable achievement and magnetism…” So writes Phil Jarratt in the introduction to his recent title ‘The Immortals of Australian Surfing’. Jarratt admits he was vexed by the question of who to include in the book after the publishers insisted he narrow it down to 12 names, but ultimately he went with the following luminaries: Midget Farrelly, Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, Michael Peterson, Simon Anderson, Mark Richards, Tom Carroll, Mick Fanning, Pam Burridge, Layne Beachley, Steph Gilmore, and Tyler Wright.
Jarratt calls on personal experiences, in-depth research and anecdotes to produce an engaging and comprehensive anthology. It helps that he knew many of his subjects well and…
