JettyGirl: A one million
dollar check arrives in your mailbox with a
note that reads, "Half of this amount is
yours and the other half is to benefit the world
around you." How would you spend the money?
Liz Cockrum (now
Liz Lantz): How sweet would it be if this really
happened?! The half that was mine to keep,
I would use to live off of as long has humanly
possible so Greg (my husband) and I could travel
and not have to work. The half that was
to benefit the world around me, I would split
up between 4 things. One would be the Surfrider
Foundation. The second would be to an
organization that helps provide clean drinking
water to communities that don't have it.
A third would be a cause for domestic animals
in our country - I'd have to research exactly
which organizations for the last two.
Then, I would use the rest of the money to start
a photography school where kids who wouldn't
normally have the opportunity to learn and practice
photography could come and study for free!
JG: Describe the best surfboard
you've ever ridden and why it was special to
you.
Liz: The best board
I've ever ridden is my 9'1" Pendoflex longboard
- I had it made custom for me this summer.
It's special for so many reasons; first of all,
it rides like a freaking champion. The
moment I started paddling I could feel it was
made just for me, and it's really helped me
improve my surfing. It's incredibly responsive,
maneuverable and fast, but stable enough to
help a newbie like me work on her nose riding.
Steve Pendarvis shaped it and Cher Pendarvis
drew this amazing pelican on it for me; the
TLC those two put into the board makes it really
special to me too.
JG: If you could travel
back to any time in history and hang with one
person while they go about their daily activities,
who would it be and why?
Liz: This was the
hardest question for me to answer! There are
so many people I'd love to hang with.
For now, my final answer would be Eugene Atget,
who was a French photographer in the early 1900s.
I love Paris and I think it'd be great to explore
it with him, see Paris during that time period,
learn about his processes etc. If I can
pick an exact time, I think it'd be the early
20's, so I could meet his friends Bernice Abbott
& Man Ray, and rock some 1920's outfits.
JG: For thirty days you're
stuck on a desert island with one book, one
song, one surf movie and one snack food. Which
ones would you choose?
Liz: East of
Eden. The Great Invisible Night (the
live version as sung by Greg, so he could be
with me too! Is that cheating?). Sprout.
Tomatos and cheese.
JG: What is your best surf-related
memory of 2009?
Liz: Greg and I
had a really great session near our house one
Sunday evening in November. It was glassy,
uncrowded, gorgeous weather, and the most perfect
chest high waves coming through. We surfed
our brains out and both of us were KILLING it,
catching tons of waves and surfing so well on
our favorite boards. The last 45 minutes or
so of the session was just the two of us, and
the sunset was beautiful. Even when there
were other people in the line-up most of the
time we were out, it felt like it was just the
two of us. We were in our own little surfy dream
world.
