Adam West died yesterday. He was 88 years old and had almost nothing to do with surfing, the environment, politics, or the outdoors.
But he was Adam West, and he was awesome. I was far too young to actually watch Batman when it wasn’t reruns–it debuted in ’66 and ran for three seasons–but my brother and I spent many a warm California evening lying on the orange shag carpet in my grandparents’ living room watching Nick at Nite. Batman came before Get Smart and after I Dream of Jeannie. Those evenings, spent nursing skinned knees, our skin itchy with sweat and grass, our shoulders sunburned from a day’s worth of adventure, our mouths full of Boston Baked Beans and Atomic Fireballs, are some of my favorite memories. I remember watching the episode above. At the time, I didn’t surf. I was just a kid, and surfing was something that was on the periphery of my interests. And strangely enough, thinking back on it, Adam West was a big part of those nights, and damn it, his death makes me sad.
So here’s a video of Adam West surfing as Batman, even though he had almost nothing to do with surfing, the environment, politics, or the outdoors.
