On a Wave by Thad Ziolkowski

Thad Ziolkowski was my writing teacher during my freshman and senior years of college. He could sometimes be a bit harsh in his criticism but I learned more about writing in those two years than any other time in my life.

This book is a memoir of his adolescence, of the disintegration of his family, and growing up in Florida in the 70s. But mostly it's about his passion for and obsession with surfing. I remember reading it in two or three days--it was totally engrossing, and not just because I was reading about someone I knew. A Google search reveals that he was a Guggenheim fellow in 2008, which he used to work on a novel. I look forward to reading it when it is published.