Gidget to Speak on Surf Culture

Gidget to Speak on Surf Culture

Kathy Zuckerman, whose teenage adventures at the beach were the inspiration for the book, movie and television show Gidget, speaks at the University of San Diego at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 20, 2006, in the University Center. Zuckerman’s lecture is the final guest lecture presented as part of the course Surf History and Culture. The talk is free and open to the public.

Zuckerman grew up in Brentwood, CA, and learned to surf at age fifteen. Given the nickname “Gidget,” a combination of “girl” and “midget” due to her short stature, she spent several summers at Malibu. Zuckerman’s father, Frederick Kohner, based his book on her diaries of the time and the story of innocent teenage love and a culture of surfing captured the imagination of a generation. Zuckerman went on to become an icon of the surf community and in 1999 Surfer magazine ranked her as the seventh most influential surfer of the 20th century.

The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls approximately 7,500 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The establishment of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies will bring the University’s total number of schools and colleges to six.  Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Law, Leadership and Education Sciences, and Nursing and Health Science.
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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.

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