An Evening with Dan Reiter

***Please note: This event will take place at the Books & Books in Coral Gables at 265 Aragon Ave. Tickets are FREE and books will be available for purchase at the event. Want your copy early or can't make it in-person?

“Surfing was everything. It was every waking moment, every part of you. It was a real, true subculture. And it was secretive, parts of it. You were doing something so great that the rest of the world had no clue about.” – Bruce Reynolds, surf artist
A high-speed glide through Florida surf culture and a deep dive into the lore of a classic surfing destination.
Not far from where the Apollo 11 rocket launched to the moon, surfers make their way to the shore in the night. Clutching their surfboards, they chase a familiar dream: more speed, more altitude, and going beyond the limits of what has been done before. For that, they want to be the first ones to catch the early morning waves.
In this book, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport on Florida’s Space Coast, a region that has produced some of the world’s finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders. On this stretch of sand between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, Florida’s surf history reaches back to the native Ais people of the Atlantic Coast and continues to the elites of today, including Kelly Slater, Caroline Marks, and CJ Hobgood. Reiter offers insights into the evolution of surfboard shaping and design, the distinctive culture of the East Coast surfboard industry, and the traits and traditions that make Florida surfing unique.
United by the background of Florida sun, soaring blue skies, and shifting sandbars, each one of this book’s eclectic chapters tells its own story of passion and pursuit. Weaving together history, personal experiences, and interviews with the greats, Reiter redefines surf literature and invites readers to share in the thrill of a rising swell.

Dan Reiter is a surfer, author, and a general contractor. He was born in Montreal in the time of Lévesque, but moved to South Florida at the age of three. His short fiction has appeared in Kenyon Review, Tin House, Shenandoah, McSweeney's, Florida Review, Bellevue Literary Review, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere. On a Rising Swell is his debut collection of surf writing, including his dispatches for The Surfer's Journal, Surfer, and Eastern Surf Magazine. He lives in Cocoa Beach.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, United States