Flipboard Culture DeskIn the summer of 1956, 15-year-old Kathy Kohner Zuckerman learned to surf, and she recorded her experiences of riding waves and the people she met in a diary. Everyone had a nickname — Tubesteak, Lord Blears, Thrifty Phil — and Kathy wanted one too. Soon, she became Gidget, a portmanteau of "girl" and "midget." Her story went on to become a series of novels, a movie starring Sandra Dee, an ABC series starring Sally Field, a stage musical co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, and more. And, Defector's David Davis argues, it also was an inflection point in surf culture, turning it from "a sleepy pastime to a billion-dollar mainstream commodity." Kohner Zuckerman dipped out of the limelight in the 1960s before re-embracing it over the past couple of decades. Davis spoke to her about her early experiences, her unique place in American culture, her life as Gidget and beyond, and what she saved from the LA fires that razed her home of 60 years.
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Gidget The Survivor | Defector
Kathy Kohner Zuckerman was at home in the Pacific Palisades, her husband Marvin working on the computer in his office, when a neighbor came pounding on their front door. “Kathy, get out! Get out now!” It was mid-morning on Jan. 7, and Kathy could see—and smell—the black smoke up in the hills above the home […]