20160622 【 surf's up】

Surfers Healing

What if riding the waves meant changing the world

Surf's up

Young Israel "lzzy" heard these words regularly as he grew up in a family whose life revolved around surfing.

A one-of-a-kind childhood

Izzy's father ,Dorian, was a Stanford University graduate and a physician.

In the late '50s, he gave up his successful career to take his wife and growing family across the U.S., traveling from beach to beach.

According to lzzy, "My dad...wanted his nine children to have the wisdom that comes from life experience.

So instead of living in a house, we lived in a small camper , traveling in search of our next wave.

"Doc" Paskowitz taught all of his kids to surf, and the family soon became known as " the First Family of Surfing."

Out of this background , Izzy developed amazing proficiency on a surfboard, and in his early teens decided to try professional surfing.

From the start, success came easily as Izzy won major championships and earned top endorsements from sponsors like Nike.

In 1987 Izzy married Dan, the love of his life.

In the following years, she gave birth to a daughter and then a son, Isaiah.

Life was perfect.