Memories Of Shane Herring
In the end it was fitting he shuffled off this mortal coil on St Patrick's Day. Lovingly called a “leprechaun” by fellow Dee Whyan and friend/patron Justin Crawford, he was that and also touched by a darker Irish fatalism. An artist in the vein of Shane McGowan, who incredibly made it to 60, it was both unsurprising and shocking when Herro fell down the stairs and did not answer the bell in the morning.
There were many moments since the turn of the century when it seemed Herro could not be much longer for this world. His orbit touched a lot of lives here in the Northern Rivers where he was a resident for most of the last 30 years of his life - almost the entire post-pro tour Herring existence - and you'll find it hard to find a bad word said about him.
I met him almost 30 years ago, shuffling down concrete steps from an old cottage in Harbord near the Diggers. The pro career was gone, sponsors left, prize money hoovered up. He was only 24, living as a recluse with girlfriend Tamera, but he had the mien of a much older man. Shopworn, you might say, by several hard years of tour life.
I spent the next couple of weeks on the road with Herro, material for a profile piece for the defunct Queensland magazine Waverider, which was intended to relaunch Herro's pro career. The title, 'Coming In From The Cold' was a false dawn. There was to be no comeback despite surfing I saw during that time that was still superior to anything happening on tour.
(Waverider Magazine)
He moved in next door to me at Broken Head. We tried to make a movie about him, still with the grand plan that it would serve as a vehicle for a Herring resurgence. Geoff McCoy made him a beautiful quiver of short, foiled out Nuggets; radical little platforms that absorbed and showcased Herro's full-power top turns - when you could get him in the water, that is. We'd beg and plead with Shane to surf but the bottle would usually win.
There was never any drama, or malice or aggro in it - nor a shred of self-pity - Shane would simply state that he didn't feel like surfing. Occasionally he would hold an impromptu dry land technical class on the lino-floored laundry of the old workers' cottage (long ago torn down and turned into millionaire's apartments) whilst nursing a brown sandwich. 'Arms had to be held like this', 'the wave's power accessed via this technique'. He was an incredible theorist of the art form.
There were flashes of sheer brilliance. Physically he was still built like a small water buffalo. Still young enough to carry the residuum strength and conditioning of the Terry Day training years. Power-to-weight and centre of gravity was always superior to Slater - no-one could bury it off the top like Herro and hold the speed through the turn. Maybe even to this day. His top turn carve was purer than John Florence's.
His surfing at Angourie was superb. Timeless. He ran through historical eras with deep fade bottom turns and full-power snaps. Top to bottom with each iteration building amplitude up to a crescendo in the shorebreak. It was a complete repudiation of American New School tail slide surfing. The footage is lost, god knows where.
Taken in 2021, Shane poses with a quiver shaped by Jimmy Young-Whitforde and coloured by himself (Justin Crawford)
On a massive day we got Herro down to Lennox Point. It was huge, no-one out. Herro paddled out on a 6'8” McCoy semi-gun, my mate on an 8'5” Brewer. Half an hour, at least, for the paddle-out. They were ants struggling against cosmic forces. Lost in the glare of the morning sun. A slight tic of a movement caught my eye, way out the back. More than out the back. On the Pinnacle - a fishing reef a half mile further out from the furthest back takeoff. On the biggest of big swells it breaks top to bottom. Only surfed once, according to legend, by Bob McTavish on a cyclone swell in the early-70's.
It took a second to digest. A figure was scratching into a massive wave on the Pinnacle, and falling out of the lip. Herro! He made the drop, it must have been a 15 foot wave. He disappeared into an exploding glacier of whitewater. Gone. No! Still standing! He came within a beesdick of running over my mate, despite them having the entire point to themselves, and then he came in cackling like a witch.
Days when he would not go near another surfer we filmed him at isolated raggedy beachbreaks. On one bowly right I saw the best top turn I've ever seen. A turn so searing and complete I can still recall it as if it has just happened.
The movie was shelved, the footage lost.
Herro found many co-conspirators in self-destruction. He had mates and he made mates. There were old Dee Why connections. Some had a better handle on it than others. There were bizarre actions and I saw many of them. Others did too. Somehow, in the midst of all that madness there was no loss of the fundamental sweetness in Shane's character. He was gentle and sensitive - too much so for this world. On quiet days he would show up with a book of poetry he had written. People tried to help him too. Lots of people. All the way up to the end. He inspired that in others. They wanted the goodness in him to shine. But the darkness followed him as sure as night follows day.
He was like the brilliant scholar in Chekhov's Black Monk, visited by an apparition and thereafter doomed to destruction.
There were small comebacks. He suffered terribly from rotten teeth and pancreatitis. A stint in rehab bought him back to life. New teeth reduced the decrepitude. Yet there was no grand arc of redemption. What was remarkable was Herro's acceptance of this fate. It was as if he could see the future and had resigned himself to it.
I ran into him at random moments over the ensuing years. He showed up at my house the night after Andy Irons died, bearing gifts of beer. I'd see him on the street sometimes in Byron. Itinerant living became his defacto mode of existence and I saw him in a duplex at Lennox, a caravan park at Chinderah, heard he was in digs at Tweed, at a caravan park in Broadwater, living with Derek Hynd after he lost everything in the flood of '22.
(Jimmy Young-Whitforde)
People never stopped believing in him. This humble, shuffling figure still carried with him an aura. I used to wonder what might have been had he not been gobbled up in the maw of pro surfing. Could he have found happiness living a simple life somewhere as a complete unknown?
In the end there are just those people touched by genius, by tragedy - or sometimes both, as in the rare case of Shane Herring. I think that is why his story still resonates so strongly, particularly for those who were lucky enough to know him. He never blamed anyone for his downfall. He loved his family and credited them with everything good in his life. For the rest, he took complete responsibility. That's a strength of character you encounter only rarely in life.
His legacy will live on, as both a cautionary tale and the pinnacle of an art form.
Rest in peace, Herro.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Very moving write up.
Sorry for your loss, and to all of Shane's friends and family.
Gosh that was a sad read. Must have been hard to witness first-hand.
RIP Herro.
That was an incredible read. Thanks FR.
RIP Herro.
So well written , I teared up .
Go well Herro . . .
Nice words Steve. Having not seen anything of him for years, that last photo is quite a shock (but kinda not).
Beautiful words Steve
RIP Shane Herring.
Thanks for the fitting obit. fr.
The quiver photo is fantastic. It's like Herro is channelling a circa 1974 shot from SW.
And the astro boy cabinet....
Beautiful.
As is the soul-piersing BW portrait.
You can see the beauty of his persona in that photo.
That's a proper heart-felt and thoughtful tribute Steve. Insightful stuff. Saddened, but thanks.
2x that, thoughts with you Steve and all that knew Herro.
A moving eulogy, thanks Steve.
Excellent choice to accompany Steve's eulogy - and a perfect soundtrack for Shane. Haven't heard this for years so thanks for the reminder!
Addiction is like no other. It takes the most innocent of people and simply sucks the life out of them. I’ve watched every clip I can find of Herro and his ability to surf with such power and grace at the same time is seldom seen. Through all his trauma he was still a good human being, harming nobody but himself. In another life Shane. RIP Herro
Great write up Steve, surfing has never been short on characters. I remember that Coming in from the cold article, Shane looks like Layne Staley's Doppelganger in that photo, which is ironic given their paths through life.
Great tribute FR. Can't be easy to write such a piece. Thanks.
So good to see such a respectful outpouring of love and grief for an icon of the sport, both in the surfing world and the mainstream media.
When i was a grom, he was one of the first surfers that influenced me. Had his posters on the wall. Epitomised what it meant to be an Aussie surfing larikin in my naive grommet eyes.
RIP Herro.
great write up ,
he lived with my good mate who used to live in your area , when he was riding for phil myers
Nice words Steve.
Sounds like a genuine, humble guy who had his struggles.
Beautiful read. As a kid I was paddling for a perfect hollow left down the beach at deewhy. Shane was on the shoulder and he was paddling hard and I accepted a drop in. Last second he pulled back and I took of and got my first proper deep back hand tube. I'll never forget his face. He wanted it so bad
A fantastic piece of writing, Steve, very moving and empathetic. Great stuff.
Excellent article. Well done.
Beautiful words. RIP Shane. You certainly made your mark in the history of surfing.
‘He loved his family and credited them with everything good in his life. For the rest, he took complete responsibility. That's a strength of character you encounter only rarely in life’
beautiful words and a moving tribute FR. Rest in Peace.
A really lovely tribute Steve.
Memories or eulogy. Call it what you will. You’d be hard pressed finding a better written piece on someone than that. Beautiful. I’d love some footage of that top turn that matches john’s. Be something to see.
A nice guy amongst many not so nice.
His ability to remain a nice guy commendable.
Very moving, Steve. Thank you.
The darkness and the light. The strength and weakness.
What a character beautifully portrayed, strength to all close to him, be inspired.
Thanks Steve. That moved me.
Thanks Steve, feeling the loss with you mate
A fitting piece that only you could craft so competently, Mr. Shearer.
That was the perfect tribute. It makes you think how import mental health is when it comes to pro surfers once they hang up quiver. We have seen a few victims in this space over the last 3 decades. Maybe the WSL should have something in place once you finish your pro tour career like other pro sports do. IE Like the AFL. (not everyone ends up being a commentator)
What an honest and beautiful eulogy. Sometimes it's not what we have, not what we achieve, not what we amass in this life, but simply the touch and mark we leave on other's lives.
Thanks Steve. This news has touched me on too many levels. I ...
RIP Herro
great words, a great read. I idolised Herring in my younger grommie years. RIP.
One of the hardest things to do Steve. Nailed it. Well done. Deepest condolences to all who knew him.
Fantastic, thanks Steve. Would have loved to see that footage at Angourie.
I have to ask, though. Dick Johnson?
Thanks Steve. Beautiful reflection.
Thanks Freeride for the Beautiful Words
Thanks Peter for a Beautiful Pic.
Beautiful words Steve.
RIP Herro
Far out Steve!
Is it time you wrote a book?
I don’t care what it’s about!
Beautifully written, Steve. I've lost a few mates in recent months, and I can feel your pain in every sweet line.
Your words have given much to the surfing community over the years Steve but these are your best and it helps us all to process. Shane made a difference and the planet surely feels the less for his parting.
From the heart! Sounds like a great bloke-humility is an under appreciated quality. RIP!
Old Dicky Johnston with the mike drop moment .
Herro was my parttime surfing super coach!
Love the linoleum technique part.
Obscure, deleted from pro surfing yet sneaking in secret session solo.
When others were jumping up and down for exposure. Shane quietly walking in the shadows.
Get to writing that book @freeride76 .
Cause you just wrote the intro......
Thanks FR & my condolences to Shanes family & friends (including youself)! I can relate to Shane & his misunderstood musing on this journey we call life. Others can misunderstand the choices we make in this life as unique individuals creating our own realities! Shane no doubt walked his own path without compromise. RIP Shane!
Beautifully written FR , never saw him surfing but wish i had ....RIP Herro
feeling it ..so well done bravo brother for words and the love
Great account of the rise and fall of a legend,
One of his shapers Gregg Webber compared his raw honest style to that of the
late great Joe Engel ,
The same eagle like intensity, both originating from Sydney .
RIP Shane .
Many who saw him surf back in the day no doubt saw the best move they have ever seen, like you did FR with that top turn. Mine was watching him from the shoulder at DY point one morning. On a 6ft bomb he did a full clayback (before they were claybacks) up into the underside of the tube roof, basically went over the falls inside it, but landed on his back in the tube, feet on the board but fins first. Then just pushed off the wave and stood up and spun the board round all in one motion and came out the barrel like it was the easiest thing ever......fuck i can still see it in my head like a movie 30 years later.......incredibke..... Sad to see him go.
thanks for the article, well written on a legend of Australian surfing. RIP Herro
Thanks Steve, sweet reflections.
There’s a lot worse that can be said about a man than “ He never blamed anyone for his downfall. He loved his family and credited them with everything good in his life. For the rest, he took complete responsibility. That's a strength of character you encounter only rarely in life.”
My brother died recently, youngest of nine kids, first to go, at 55. I’d like to be able to say those words of him but it wouldn’t hold so much truth.
As for Herro, “genius follows its own path, and lights its own lamp”, wrote somebody some time ago.
Condolences to family and those that were close
Nice words BF. I'm sad to hear about your brother. 55 is too young.
Cheers Zen, yes, 55 is too young, but …
I have in the back of my mind that I’d like to have few (hundred) beers with you one night/day/night. Don’t know how that would ever happen, you in Japan and me in Sydney, but maybe, maybe one day, we’ll share a few stories.
@steve
Sorry for you lose and condolences to all his family and friends.
"Could he have found happiness living a simple life somewhere as a complete unknown?"
I somehow doubt that as it appears that he was suffering mental Illness most of his life.
My guess is that he probably had diagnosed ADHD based off his lifestyle/actions.
So unless he got diagnosed and received help, I can't see his life would have been better as an anonymous suburbanite. It could have been much worse due to a life where he may have never got close to his potential. Being number 1 in the world for a short time, beating Slater, and pushing the boundaries of what's possible on a wave, are all things that would have given him some contentment about his life. Not many every get to the top of the mountain in life but he did, and although he may have slid down the other side uncontrollably, he still made it!
Well done Shane! You certainly lived a truthful life and kept your soul shinning bright.
...I've come back to this again. Beautiful prose, Steve, thank you.
Many of us face sliding doors; it's important to choose one's path carefully.