Journalist, Author, Women’s Activist Dies Sept. 2, 2026

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

On September 2nd,  journalist, author, activist Gloria Steinem passed away after a lifetime of trailblazing efforts on behalf of women. At a time when women weren’t even allowed to apply for credit cards without a male sponsor, Steinem was at the forefront of the women’s movement, seeking equal rights, opportunity and pay for women.

And now, thanks to Steinem, women in all walks of life – from competitive surfing to science, education to entrepreneurship, artists to astronauts – have a place at the table.

Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny cocktail waitress in 1963 at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club in New York City. Donning bunny ears and a cottontail, she wrote an article for Show magazine about how the club treated women, revealing that behind all the glamour the women were underpaid and exploited.

Speaking at women’s rallies, in her trademark aviator glasses she was instantly recognizable as the voice of women’s equality. Hard to believe now, at the time job opportunities were listed in newspaper want ads as “Men Wanted” and “Women Wanted” with many jobs not available for women.

In 1972 she was one of the co-founders of Ms. magazine, the first national magazine to focus on feminist news. The first issue featured Wonder Woman on the cover and discussed everything from voting in elections, paying women for housework, and the equal rights amendment to demystifying how your car runs.

In addition to editing Ms. and writing countless articles, Steinem also wrote numerous books and was the subject of many books about her.

SurfWriter Girls admire how Steinem used all the tools in her arsenal – intelligence, skill, wit, perseverance – to pave the way for modern women to have untold opportunities.

Combining pragmatism with optimism, she described herself as a “hopeaholic” and was always working to make the world a better place – not just for women, but for everyone.

To find out more about Gloria Steinem, check out the publications in our story.

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Bookmarks Keep Us On Track

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

When we want to save something online, we bookmark it. Just click it and you’re done. When we’re reading a book, using a bookmark tells us where we’ve left off so we can start again.

SurfWriter Girls love to read books and make sure to always have a bookmark handy. Bending or dogearing a page is a definite no-no.

We were intrigued to learn that the earliest bookmark known to exist – an ornamented leather strap dating to 6th Century AD – was found in an Egyptian monastery. Did you know that cat statues were often placed in Egyptian sacred spaces for protection against evil spirits?

Through the ages bookmarks have been prized for their practical and decorative value. From the early monks (when scribes painstakingly hand wrote religious manuscripts) through the 15th Century, leather straps, vellum tabs, and silk ribbons were often used as bookmarks.

After the printing press was invented in the mid-15th Century and mechanically printed books became available, the public began to read, and a variety of bookmarks were used.

Over the years bookmarks have been made from embroidered silk, metal, fabric, cardboard and plastic. Some bookmarks are works of art, while others are fun, informative, inspirational or support a cause.

Enhancing the reading experience, they can mark a favorite recipe for later, save our place in a reference or how-to book, keep us on track in a mystery novel to find out Whodunit.

From inexpensive and promotional advertising bookmarks to treasured, gifted ones, bookmarks enable us to make a statement, express our thoughts and passions, add style to our day, put a smile on our face…and, of course, mark the page.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Tom Gibbons Shares the Stoke!

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

When SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti went to the mailbox we found an unexpected treasure – a hard copy from Tom Gibbons, founding President of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA), of his website: The World of Surfing and Its Influence.

The website itself (surfingtimeline.org) is a labor of love that Gibbons began over a dozen years ago – a timeline chronicling surfing’s development from the ancient Hawaiians to the 21st century and its impact on culture, lifestyle, the economy, environment, and more.

Gibbons, an avid surfer and surf coach who co-founded the NSSA in 1978, is also a supporter of the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum, the California Surf Museum, the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, and the Surfrider Foundation. You could say that surfing is in Gibbons’ DNA.

He created the surfing timeline to keep the history of the sport alive and to ensure that the people who have turned surfing into a megaforce are recognized. Surfers. Board makers. Artists. Entrepreneurs. Surf industry leaders. Organizations.

Like they say, “It takes a village” to make things happen. Surfing has its tribe – a worldwide network of surfing enthusiasts that are working to build and improve the sport and protect the ocean and beach environment.

SurfWriter Girls talked to Gibbons about his love of surfing and how it’s grown from just being a sport to an integral part of cultures around the world.

“When I started teaching in the late 60s surfing didn’t have the best reputation and many didn’t even consider it a legitimate sport, “ Gibbons told us. “My goal was to bring education and surfing together to give the sport credibility. The school systems were very supportive of this.” Gibbons even created a Surfer’s Journal students could use to track their surf sessions and set goals for themselves.

Starting out in Thousand Oaks and later moving to the Huntington Beach Union High School District, Gibbons became a champion for student surf athletes. He said the students were eager to form surf clubs and to make surfing a letter sport. To encourage and support the students, Gibbons created the first surfing academic scholarship. It was $300 – with the money provided out of his own pocket!

Gibbons sent SurfWriter Girls the surfing timeline because he wants to get the next generation on board to keep it going.

He’s covered over a century of surfing – starting from pre-1910 – and is ready to hand the baton to a new group of surfing historians. Researchers. Teachers. Students. Anyone who loves surfing. Check out the website and get in touch with Gibbons to see how you can get involved. This is a chance to not only chronicle history, but to be a part of it.

Like legendary surfing ambassador Duke Kahanamoku, The Endless Summer filmmaker Bruce Brown, and Kathy Kohner Zuckerman (“Gidget”), you can share surfing’s story, share the stoke, and build the sport.

SurfWriter Girls are all for that! Octy and Stitch are, too.

The time(line) is now!

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Idyllic Nature Resort is City-Close

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

From the beaches to the mountains, deserts, and more, people are planning their vacations with sustainability in mind. Not just looking at the amenities, things to do, and sights to see, travelers are choosing hotels and resorts that are environmentally friendly.

Perched on 87 acres at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, The Ranch at Laguna Beach is as proud of its environmentally friendly practices as it is of its idyllic setting.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti were eager to visit this Surfrider Foundation sponsor that’s made sustainability a key part of its core mission.

From the Ranch’s casual dining outdoor restaurant, The Porch, we had a view of the surrounding hills and golf course. Quiet and serene, it’s a spot to linger and let the day unfold.

The resort’s staff told us that an onsite farm provides food for its tables and a grove of trees on the property absorbs carbon dioxide. Whether it’s composting or reclaiming water, The Ranch does everything possible to reduce its environmental footprint.

The Ranch’s fine dining restaurant, Harvest, is certified by Surfrider as an “Ocean Friendly Restaurant” serving sustainably sourced food and utilizing reusable and recyclable methods that eliminate waste and damage to the environment.

Focusing on dishes made with their own seasonal produce and craft beers and wine made in-house, Harvest’s menu mixes “old favorites with a few twists.” Lunch includes a tri-tip sandwich and wild shrimp tacos. For dinner, red wine braised short ribs, crispy duck, and white wine steamed mussels. Desserts range from apple pie to sticky toffee pudding.

The resort’s amenities reflect its natural environment with a scenic 9-hole golf course, rustic swimming pool, fire pits, hiking trails, wellness spa, and paddle board and surfing lessons.

Rated a Four Diamond Hotel by the Automobile Club of Southern California, The Ranch at Laguna Beach is part of the Beyond Green sustainable properties hospitality group.

With just a small sign to mark its entrance on a canyon road off PCH (31106 Coast Highway), this SoCal getaway gem is easy to miss, but it’s worth looking for.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Searching for Buried Treasure

Written by SurfWriter Girls Suny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

On a perfect winter day when the holiday beach crowds were gone, SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti decided to put our metal detector to the test and see if we could find any buried treasure at Seal Beach.

Patti’s husband Greg gave her the detector a while ago, but this was the first time we had a chance to use it. We were excited with visions of finding lost jewelry and valuables or maybe a pirate’s stash of gold coins like in this Treasure Island book that Patti’s dad had when he was a child.

Scanning the sand, we listened carefully for the metal detector’s clicking sounds.

If smugglers from the early days of California had buried treasure on the beach they would have needed to be able to find it again, but where did X mark the spot?

Each time we heard a beep we started digging, only to come up empty. Nothing. Not even an empty can or bottle cap. Being a Beachcomber isn’t as easy as it looks.

One of the most famous beachcombers of all, Don the Beachcomber, didn’t make his fortune on the beach, but by opening a Polynesian nightclub with exotic, tropical drinks.

At the end of the day, the only treasure we had to show for our efforts came from a store – this Pirate’s Booty snack mix. And Greg quickly claimed that for himself.

What can we say, matey? “Arrgh.”

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

The Treat You Love to Eat

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Now that baseball season is going into the final stretch, people will be eating lots of Cracker Jack treats at the games. For over 150 years the familiar Cracker Jack popcorn-and-peanuts treat has been satisfying snack attacks from picnic grounds to baseball stadiums. The crunchy confection that originated in Chicago in the 1870s has worldwide appeal.

Instantly recognizable in the red, white and blue box with Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo on the front, the snack was innovative from the beginning – from its molasses-coated, caramel popcorn and peanuts mixture to the wax paper package liner that keeps it fresh.

Frederick Rueckheim, a German immigrant, started selling the snack that would become the crowd favorite when he came to Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In 1899, Henry Gottleib Ekstein helped it keep its crunch when he developed the Cracker Jack “waxed sealed package” for freshness.

Putting the power of marketing to use, Cracker Jack’s slogan “The More You Eat, The More You Want.” was registered in 1896. And later the tagline: “Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize.”

Cracker Jack hit a home run in 1908 when it showed up in the popular song “Take me out to the Ballgame” (“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never come back.”). Already an American classic, the song made it a fan favorite at events everywhere.

And how about the prizes?  In 1912 Cracker Jack began putting prizes in every box. Reflecting Americana over the next 100 years, prizes ranged from baseball cards, miniature books and stickers to figurines, rings, space age toys and 1960s “Flower Power” pins.

Highly collectible now, The Schiffer Collectors book even tracks the prizes and prices.

Cracker Jack and its coveted prizes showed up in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard share a box and find a prize inside. A ring they eventually get engraved at Tiffany’s jewelry store where the surprised sales associate asks if they got it there.

Prizes inside the boxes were discontinued in 2016.  By then, 23 billion prizes had been given out around the world. But, in keeping with new technology, the boxes now have QR codes that you can scan for gifts.

Just as it did from the start, the popcorn treat we all love to eat (“Crack a pack of Cracker Jack, you’re bound to crack a smile.”) continues to find ways to innovate and surprise us.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Chill Out in Style!

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

When the summer days get hot, what better shirt is there to chill out in than a cool, colorful Hawaiian shirt?

Also known as an Aloha shirt, the colorful, short-sleeve shirts originated in Hawaii in the 1920s and became popular on the mainland after WW II when soldiers stationed on the islands brought them home.

Movies like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s blockbuster musical South Pacific (1958)

and Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii (1962) jump-started the island-themed fashion trend even more.

President John F. Kennedy added to the Hawaiian shirt mystique, too, wearing them while sailing or relaxing at his family’s Cape Cod home in Hyannis Port, MA.

So did Tom Selleck in the hit TV show Magnum P.I. and singer Jimmy Buffett while “wasting away” in Margaritaville.

And now, fashion brands from Tommy Bahama to Ralph Lauren and Prada feature the carefree shirts in their lineups.

Originally embellished with traditional Hawaiian quilt and flower designs, the shirts have taken on a wilder life of their own with palm trees, birds, sunsets, cocktail glasses, and more showing up.

If you’re looking for an authentic Hawaiian shirt made by descendants of the original Polynesians, SurfWriter Girls friend Jeffrey Sakamoto, who’s become an expert on island lore, recommends the shirts from Pili Pacific, which utilizes the Tahitian-inspired designs of co-founders Sue Pearson and Herman Pi’ikea Clark.

A must-have for anyone spending time in the islands, whatever you choose, the fun-to-wear Hawaiian shirts bring a taste of the tropics wherever they go…and bring out the party animal in us.

A shirt you can wear tucked in or out – no necktie required! – a Hawaiian shirt takes you anywhere in style…even if it’s just inside your own home.

Mahalo to SurfWriter Greg for taking the photo of us…and all the other photos he always takes! He’s our production crew working behind the scenes.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Get Your Martini Shaken, Not Stirred

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Looking for the chance to say, “Bond, James Bond” or to order your martini “Shaken, not stirred”? Then get ready to check in at the Jamaican resort GoldenEye, the former home of author Ian Fleming.

Fleming wrote fourteen James Bond novels here.

Named after a WWII mission Fleming devised during his years in British intelligence, GoldenEye is a lush, coastal property that Fleming’s villains would have favored

Spread out over 52-acres, the luxury, get-away features dazzling beaches and private coves, tropical forests, and a saltwater lagoon – with a variety of beach huts, cottages, and villas where you can stay.

In 1952 Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, at GoldenEye. Using the Caribbean island setting as a common locale in his adventure stories, the movies Dr. No and Live and Let Die were both filmed nearby.

Located on the North coast of Jamaica on Oracabessa Bay, the resort is built around Fleming’s original villa. When SurfWriter Girl Patti worked for Delta Airlines she visited Ocho Rios just a few minutes away and saw firsthand how beautiful and secluded the area is.

Along with relaxing on the beach and enjoying gourmet meals, it’s definitely a place to inspire a sense of adventure whether you go exploring, snorkeling or paddleboarding. Or pick up a pen and try writing your own spy thriller.

And don’t be surprised who you run into while you’re here. Fleming hosted many notables at GoldenEye, including Princess Margaret and Breakfast at Tiffany’s author Truman Capote. Celebrities Sting, Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan, Grace Jones, and Richard Branson have all vacationed at the island retreat.

Truly a resort fit for a spy, the amenities at GoldenEye include a license to thrill.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Summer Totes are Essential

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel 

A classic summer beach bag or tote is essential when you’re out and about, making a run to the store, spending a day at the beach, or traveling on an adventure.

When we’re on the go SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti love all the styles there are to keep our supplies, purchases, and finds close at hand.

Whether it’s a simple canvas or straw carryall, a reusable bag from the grocery store…

or a fashionista tote. Something big enough for a beach towel or with lots of pockets.

It can be colorful and fun, support a cause, or make a statement.

Using a Surfrider Foundation bag helps protect our beaches.

Proceeds from FEED Projects bags feed hungry children.

Whatever you’re up to, there’s a bag that’s just right for you – to stash your stuff, store a camera, travel guides and souvenirs, carry groceries or even a French baguette.

For a day in the sun or errands to run,

when you head to the beach keep a tote bag in reach!

It can be fun and kitschy or glam and ritzy.

Bright and breezy, it makes things easy.

Perfect for snacks and fruit, sunglasses and loot.

Seashells you find on the shore, things you buy at the store.

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.