I first met the late and lamented Uncle Clyde, along with brother Eddie, at the ‘peace’ meeting at the Kuilima Resort on Kahuku Point early in November 1976, at the height of what was to famously become known as the ‘North Shore Jaw Wars’.

But I already knew him by reputation, courtesy of a great story told to me by Jeff Hakman, earlier that same year, ’76, when Jeff had become the first overseas competitor to win the Bells Classic. Jeff, who was not great at keeping confidences when excited, told me the story under the strict condition that it not be published anywhere, and I kept my promise until Jeff and I jointly published it in our book, ‘Mr. Sunset’, some 20 years later. The story, in brief, goes like this:

In 1970 Hakman was in trouble with the law over a drug bust, but he had a lucrative sponsorship with Duke Boyd’s Golden Breed brand. Since it was unlikely that Jeff would be invited to the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational under these circumstances, Boyd suggested they develop “A focus for surfing performance that is not a contest”. “An expression session,” said Jeff. Bingo.

The first event of the North Shore winter season, the Golden Breed Expression Session offered its 20 invitees, led by Jeff, $200 appearance fee. Jeff sent out 19 invitations for the one-day event to be held in the best surf over a two-week period. In keeping with the cool, laidback feel of the event, its opening party was a barbeque at Jeff’s beachfront renter at Pipeline, which was getting enthusiastically out of hand even before dark, when a pickup truck pulled into the lane behind the house and disgorged a dozen or more very big, very drunk men, most of them locals.