Dora Lives: The Authorized Story of Miki Dora

Famed Malibu surfer Dora died in 2002 at age 67, in Montecito, Calif., but his legend lives on. Born in Budapest, Miklos Dora arrived in Los Angeles as an infant, became immersed in California beach culture, served an apprenticeship in surfboard construction and developed a reputation as a prankster. He entered the post-WWII Malibu surfing scene just as the new lightweight balsa boards were introduced and riding a wave became "the center of gravity of his very existence." Dora stood out as a charismatic local, cultivating a graceful, laid-back surfing style that earned him the nickname "Da Cat." After work as a stunt double in Gidget (1959), he acted in TV shows and early 1960s beach party movies. Rejecting competitive surfing (he once mooned the judges mid-wave), he left Malibu to travel the world and had a few run-ins with the law (for passing bad checks and using a stolen credit card). Writer Stecyk and former Surfer and Surfing editor Kampion capture Dora's mystique with fluid, evocative text illustrated with 60 color and 30 b&w photos, some from Dora's own albums. With quiet reverence, they pay tribute to a surfing iconoclast. (Nov.)