The surf community mourned the loss of another iconic surfer yesterday as news spread that Santa Cruz, California artist, surfer, and “funny human” Shawn “Barney” Barron died yesterday (May 5, 2015). He was 44.
According to Surfline:
Barron was born in Pomona and raised on the Westside of Santa Cruz, learning how to surf in fourth grade. By the time he was a teenager, Barron was one of the most progressive surfers in town, along with fellow Westsiders Darryl “Flea” Virotsko and Jason “Ratboy” Collins. In the mid- to late ‘90s, Barron and crew created a highly specialized niche as aerialist/big-wave freesurfers, traveling around the world and charging at home and at Maverick’s as the spot was beginning to gain notoriety as the West Coast’s heaviest wave.
Surfer Joel Tudor took to Instagram this morning with the photo to the right and the following:
Rest in power you cosmic awesome human! Shawn “Barney” Barron you were a pleasure to know and honor to surf will–first attempted 360 air I ever witnessed was by Shawn at the lane in 1987 // you are a legend sir — respect in the highest form.
According to a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel there will not be an official cause of death until an autopsy is completed. But this is what happened:
About 4:30 p.m., a 23-year-old woman who lives at Barron’s home on the 100 block of Dufour Street heard a crash, said Santa Cruz police Lt. Bernie Escalante. She went outside to an area between the home and an in-law unit and saw Barron on the ground, Escalante said. . . She called 911 and was instructed by an emergency dispatcher to open his airway, which she did. Paramedics and police arrived and tried to resuscitate Barron, but he was pronounced dead at 5:05 p.m., police said.
More details as they become available. Our thoughts are will Barron’s family and friends.
[Link: Surfline.com & Santa Cruz Sentinel]
