Happy New Year and welcome back to the show.

Jamie Brissick is a former pro-surfer turned writer.

He was awarded the Fulbright scholarship in 2008.

His stories have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian,

The Surfers Journal. He's written three books. His most recent book, Becoming Westerly,

tells the true story of Australian surfing champion Peter Druin, transitioning to Westerly

Windina. Jamie is also making a documentary about the story entitled

Westerly, which is due for release in early 2018. You can watch the trailer for it on our

website, surfsplenderpodcast.com. Jamie and I get deep into that story in our conversation,

and the release of the film was largely the reason why I invited Jamie on this show.

But the catalyst, the precise timing for me inviting him on the show, was this piece that

he had written last year in the Surfer's Journal.

I had an awareness of Jamie through my entire surfing life.

I knew of him as a pro surfer in my youth.

I had read some of his work over the years.

But this piece in the Surfer's Journal, the dazzling blackness,

it really kind of tore my heart out.

After I read it, I started to follow Jamie on Instagram.

And as often happens with Instagram, I felt like I got to know him personally.

So that's why I reached out to him, and that's precisely where our formal conversation begins in this show, which is just discussing Instagram.

So, of course, I'm David Scales for Surf Splendor. In today's episode, I wax on with

Jamie Brissick. But before I pitch to our conversation, I'd like to read the opening of the

...