The first and last covers of Surfer Magazine.
According to SURFER Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Todd Prodanovich, issue number three of volume 61 will be the iconic publication’s final issue. Prodanovich posted the announcement on Instagram this morning with the following caption:
“This is the last issue of @surfer_magazine,” wrote Prodanovich. “The whole staff got let go yesterday (no, nothing to do with the heat from the Biden endorsement 😂, just the Covid economy), but I feel like we’re ending on a high note with this one. The cover shot was taken by @donaldmiralle during the Encinitas paddle out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Inside has some of my all-time favorite features from my all-time favorite surf writers— @smashtyn_douglas , @hzahorseman and @seano888 —and a piece by me about the LGBTQ+ surf community that was the honor of my career to work on, and I’m so grateful to the subjects for trusting me with their stories. Funny how you can work a job like this for 10 years and each issue is a completely new and different journey. I’ll really miss that part, and the mag in general, which ends on this issue after 60 years of publication. Hope you all enjoy the issue and thanks for reading over the years. Lots of love to everyone I had the privilege of working with to make this thing what it was while we could”
American Media acquired SURFER Magazine as well as Powder, Bike, Snowboarder, and several other titles from The Enthusiast Network in February 2019. Prior to that transaction, The Enthusiast Network shuttered its other surf publications, Transworld Surf in 2013 and Surfing Magazine in 2017. American Media continues to operate its portfolio of publications including OK!, US Weekly, In Touch, and Men’s Journal.
SURFER Magazine was founded by John Severson in 1960 as The Surfer Quarterly. It is the first major surf periodical, and its success spawned the genre.
“Before John Severson, there was no ‘surf media,’ no ‘surf industry’ and no ‘surf culture’ — at least not in the way we understand it today,” wrote former SURFER Editor and The Inertia contributor Sam George.
With sixty years of history, SURFER has driven surf culture forward, with many timeless covers, images, and essays. Perhaps none more so than this thought from Severson:
“In this crowded world the surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.”
While the exact fate of the publication is unclear, the dismissal of the staff and the announcement of its final issue is a major loss for surfers around the planet.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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