Leisure casualty of shark attack
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
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| Bethany Hamilton takes a ride on a balance board during a break from signing copies of her book at a surf shop in Coco Beach, Fla.
Photo courtesy Bethany Hamilton Book-signing tonight at ward "Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family and Fighting to Get Back on the Board" Bethany Hamilton book-signing 7 tonight Borders Books & Music, Ward Centre |
She's trying to keep up with the demands of a nationwide book tour, phone calls from folks across the country who need a word of encouragement, doing commercials, participating in competitive surfing, staying abreast of her home-schooling demands, interviews with intrusive reporters.
She's a 14-year-old surfer girl from the rural north shore of Kaua'i. She wants to spend time with her friends and do the things kids do. And there's hardly time, thanks to a shark attack on Halloween morning of last year, which cost the surfing champion her left arm and focused the world's attention on her.
She showed up at Lihu'e Airport on Monday night in muddy boots and muddy trousers, fresh from a horseback-riding lesson. She had to get to Honolulu because she was scheduled to surf for the camera at Rocky Point on the North Shore of O'ahu on Tuesday for an anti-drug commercial.
She had just finished a cross-country, nine-city book tour with Simon & Schuster, which published "Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family and Fighting to Get Back on the Board." The book was written with the help of her pastor, Rick Bundschuh, and celebrity book author Sheryl Berk.
In the book's preparation, she spent a lot of time just talking as people took notes.
"It's kind of like I was half writing it. My thoughts were being put into words," she said.
Her dad, Tom Hamilton, said the book tour had its moments, but the family got real tired of limousines.
"We're not limo kind of people," he said.
But if there was any doubt about the impact Bethany has on people, the tour quelled it. At the massive Florida surf shop Ron Jon's, in Coco Beach, her appearance caused traffic jams. The sponsors had to send out for more books for her to sign.
"There were surf kids and skateboard kids, Iraq soldiers missing limbs, other people who'd lost limbs or been born without them, people from all walks of life. These people had just been through three hurricanes, and you could tell some of them were hurting, but they came there for Bethany," Tom Hamilton said.
Bethany said she doesn't mind talking about what it takes to keep going, to keep focused, to stay positive. But she's over talking about sharks and shark attacks. She has done it again and again, and she doesn't want to dwell on it.
"I like to inspire people and talk about my faith, but sometimes it's really hard. It's tiring," she said, adding, "I'm used to it."
If Bethany's first post-shark year has been super hectic, there's little chance that it's going to calm down soon.
She has done a dozen national television news shows and more than 100 radio interviews. Janet Jackson handed her the Teen Choice Award, and she got an ESPN Espy Award for comeback athlete of the year. The Women's Sports Foundation last month gave her its Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. She has done a Volvo commercial in Portugal, and there's a one-hour special on her on the Outdoor Life cable network, entitled, "Fearless."
Her book is No. 12 on the Los Angeles Times nonfiction best-sellers list — ahead, her dad is proud to say, of Donald Trump's latest.
Her agent, Roy Hofstetter, is marketing a movie, which he said should start filming in late spring. Bethany plans to do her own surfing stunt work.
And speaking of surfing, Bethany placed fifth among open women in the National Scholastic Surfing Association championships this summer. She is on the U.S. team in the International Surfing Association World Junior Surfing Championships 2004 in Papenoo, Tahiti, next month.
It's a lot for a 14-year-old. She credits her Christian faith for the strength to carry on — that, and the desire to expand her horizons. Like her horseback-riding lessons, the sailing lessons and snowboarding. "I like trying new things," she said.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
