Prof. Grace Moon is the founding editor of Velvet Park Media, a queer women's arts and culture multiplatform publishing company that produces print and digital media. She's a painter and teaches fine art and design in the CUNY and SUNY college systems and is currently writing and illustrating a history of surfing before the modern era.
Co-host Karen Song sat down with Grace to discuss her return to surfing in recent years, after a long hiatus. She grew up surfing in Honolulu but gave it up in the late 90's to get her MFA at Pratt in New York City. She never imagined it possible or desirable to surf here of all places. So, she abandoned it for around 20 years. Eventually she returned to the sea and realized there was a lot more of the Aloha spirit than she realized here in NYC.
In the last few months, Grace has surfed her way to conquering cancer. When she was able to do so safely, she surfed during the peak of Covid in NYC, while undergoing chemo. Grace attributes surfing to helping in her healing process.
Throughout the interview, Grace would reveal a thorough wealth of knowledge of surfing in Hawaii, as both a surfer with rich personal experiences, and as an academic and intellectual who has the ability and language to untangle its history from its colonialist patriarchal lens. She is currently working on a book about Hawaiian surf history and we are honored to have her as our guest on this episode of Swell Season Surf Radio.

Music:
Artist: Sonny Chillingsworth
Song: Moe Uhana (Hawaiian Slack Key)

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