Changing Tides – Catching up with world champion longboarder and Surfers Healing co-founder Izzy Paskowitz

Those days are ingrained like the hieroglyphics on King Tut’s tomb. It was 1977 and there was no one there! The only things on the beach in San José were the trailer park and the Hotel Presidente. There were almost no surfers and a few gringos just discovering Gringo Hill, and I remember a local Mexican fisherman who surfed The Rock with us. We lived in a little bungalow up in the cove on the north side of The Rock. That shack was like a fine room at the Cabo Surf Hotel because we’d been living in the arroyo and freshwater bathing was a luxury that didn’t happen a lot. Yeah, so The Rock was the spot! The East Cape was like going to the dark side of the moon and we did that a lot, surfing all day by ourselves. Our TV was beautiful sunrises and sunsets, like paintings, I took so many pictures of them back then. The beaches were blanketed by conical shells like pointy bullets—white and brown—not one now. How do you feel when you’re here? Is it a chance to unwind? Yes, May and October is my time to be with my son, Isaiah, and to be just like all those other selfish mofo’s like me that want to catch all the best waves in the set. It’s my time to meet up with friends who are part of the «Surfers Healing» backbone and enjoy the people of Cabo, the food and surf. It’s when I don’t surf for my special children, because you see I feel like they’re all mine! I LOVE them all, my heart connects with them, and the experience I get out of it makes me feel connected to a higher power, maybe God? I don’t know. But I still love surfing and my new 9-foot performance Glen Minami longboards and although I am a grandfather in surfing, I still think I’m Kelly Slater. You and your wife, Danielle, founded Surfers Healing after your 1996 surfing experience in Hawaii with your son, Isaiah, now 25. What would you say to younger, struggling parents of autistic children? It’s a long bumpy road and things will get worse, but it does get better and your life will not be ordinary. There was a time when I wished I was just ordinary; now I am so grateful for the chance to live a very unordinary life. The wonderful people I have met who are a part of this charity’s mission is the greatest gift. Autism will make you into a better person! Let this happen. Be strong, keep the family together. Surround yourself with people who love your child, even though in most cases it won’t be your family. Alone you cannot make it, we are all in this together. I also want to thank all the local Cabo surfers who continue to make the autism surf camps bigger and better, the Mike Doyle Surf School, Miguel Rojas Godoy, Janet Jensen, Sergio, and all the locals. Lemoña and Red Autismo, and Mauricio Balderrama for his love for the people of San José and for opening the doors of Cabo Surf to all the special children and their families. You also run the Paskowitz family’s surf camps. Will there be a third generation of Paskowitzes to step up when you retire? Or is retirement not an option? Who knows? My grandson, Bronson, seems to like surfing. Maybe he will. He’s 3 and I’m 53 so hopefully I can hold on until then. When you’re away from the waves, what do you do for fun? I love where I live! A small, isolated ranch in Orange County that we bought from my wife’s parents. The horses are in the front yard. It’s our paradise. Danielle has taught me to ride Western, taking the style of Mexican vaqueros: Rein-Cow-Horse. So I want to be a cowboy now! I’m not bad, won a couple buckles (my wife has a case full of buckles and champion saddles) in the arena, but we can also fill our saddle bags with cold beer and trail ride for days with a six shooter on my hip. I love it. I don’t know, being around real cowboys has taught me manners and loyalty. Also old surfers seem to turn into old ladies. Old cowboys, the older they get the cooler they look. www.surfershealing.org *]]>