Dora Lives: The Authorized Story Of Miki Dora [Hardcover]

Steve Pezman (Author), C.R. Stecyk (Author), Drew Kampion (Editor), Brad Barrett (Photographer), Le Roy Grannis (Photographer), Joe Quigg (Photographer), Grant Rohloff (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2005

The surfing iconoclast who became an icon, Miki Dora was the epitome of 60s beach culture. His dark good looks were the envy of Malibu. His talent earned him trophies (which he disdained) and the nickname "Da Cat." And in the end, when he didn't like the commercial direction of the sport he helped define, he turned his back on the beach, wandered the world, served time in jail, and, finally in 2002, suffering from pancreatic cancer returned to his father's house in Montecito, California to die at age 67. A Malibu graffiti that appeared during his years on the road sums up his role in the surfing imagination and still holds true: "Dora Lives." Years in the making and compiled with the cooperation of Dora while he was alive and his family after his death, Dora Lives is the definitive record of the legend. Transcribed interviews with Dora and texts by former Surfer magazine editor Drew Kampion and writer C.R. Stecyk are combined with nearly 100 photos and stills from photographers, filmmakers, and Dora's personal albums. The story starts out in Budapest, Hungary, where Miklos Dora was born in 1934, follows the child amigra to Hollywood High (except when the surf was up), and finds him at the center of the post-Gidget surf boom of the 60s. At that time, Dora stunt-doubled in a few films and competed when he felt like it, but mostly he embraced the hedonist milieu and burnished his antihero legend, culminating in a mid-wave mooning of the judges at the 1967 Malibu Invitational. Shortly after, he left for points (and point breaks) abroad in France, Indonesia, Australia, and Madagascar until 2001, when he returned to the West Coast to die.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 142 pages
• Publisher: D.A.P./T.Adler Books (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890481173
• ISBN-13: 978-1890481179
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Da Cat: Man outside the boundaries. Not for hodads!, August 26, 2009

By 

FiberglassRat (SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dora Lives: The Authorized Story Of Miki Dora (Hardcover)

Mikki Dora was one of a kind, a genuine "rebel" not searching for a cause, willing to milk the system he considered the death of pure surfing. Dora was a true surfer, and his games with money, competition and film were played for his amusement and to support his chosen lifestyle, full-time beach bum and surfer. Yes, he had an ego, was a hedonist, but a spiritual being as well. While his life may seem a maze of contradictions to many readers, to a true surfer (not today's MBA holders who surf slop on weekends), his actions make perfect sense, leading to a life lived fully, learning and exploring the world, himself, while indulging his senses for sheer enjoyment and immersement in our planetary life and waves, energy given us freely by the universe.
The revviewers I've read haven't a clue about what drove the man, and so many of his contemporaries as myself, to explore so many avenues, sometimes behave badly, but risk life and soul in the process of knowing himself and the world. For a non-surfer who never expeienced the sport and lifestyle in its pre-commercial days is impossible; even the meanings of the language of surfing have changed (I might as well review the lifestyle and times of a rapper about whose culture I know nothing, including the language).
Dora was many people to many people; criticizing his life story is like jousting at rainbows. Surely some reviewers who have no understanding of the man and times have better things to do than criticize the typeface and page size of a book about a man they don't understand or care about?
DORA was unique. Real surfers, enjoy. Highway surfers and literary critics, stay on your beach towels in the tanning salon and read about Trump or Oprah or Dick Cheney ;-)
All you cool regular folks and surfers: Hang Ten!
Rob del Rincon

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great content, bad typesetting, September 8, 2008

By 

gitc (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dora Lives: The Authorized Story Of Miki Dora (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book with great pictures and stories. It would have gotten 5 stars if it weren't for the fact that the type is so hard to read. Everything from the choice of type (some sort of bad version of Bodoni) to how small it's set (maybe 5 pt. type) makes each page a real chore to read. Bummer! Otherwise, fascinating stories about Dora and his Malibu milieu.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BIT OF HEAVY READING, April 5, 2008

By 

TheBookWorm (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dora Lives: The Authorized Story Of Miki Dora (Hardcover)

Have always liked the mystic behind Da Cat, but this book was a bit of a heavy read. Can't really put my finger on what it was about it that made it difficult to read, it just was. Regardless of that though, he certainly was a character. Bit mad. Bit anti-establishment. Bit sad.