Tower Tales - Brian Hickey - Bog

The 1960's were a unique time for Americans and American culture. The movies, music, and media of the day were fueling the public's unprecedented desire to go to the beach and go surfing. Nowhere was this fascination more evident than at the focal point of this attention, the beaches of Southern California. Millions flocked to these beaches to be part of this cultural phenomenon. It fell to the ocean lifeguards of the day to stand watch over this massive wave of novice beachgoers. Tower Tales offers a rare first hand account of what it was like to be an ocean lifeguard during this era and what the lifeguard lifestyle was like in those early years. Follow the author through testing and training to find out what it took to become an ocean lifeguard and what the lifeguards were being taught so you may better protect yourself and your family when at the beach and in the ocean. Meet the watermen who populate these tales. Go toe to toe with Luscious at "The Ringers," the annual lifeguard competition, learn how "Lips-to-Me" got his nickname at Hussongs', and follow Heck as he saves the lives of three young girls over a mile away from his tower. No other book offers such an intimate and knowledgeable insight into the little known and often misunderstood world of ocean lifeguarding.