JERRY PERSON -- A Look Back

People say good things come in threes. The Met has its three tenors, and

in the 1960s and ‘70s, Main Street had its “three Georges.” There was

George Arnold, its favorite town personality; there was George Draper,

the honorary mayor of Main Street; and there was George S. Farquhar.

“Surfer George,” as he was known by his many friends, was born in 1914 in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of four sons of James Farquhar. The Farquhar

family left Iowa and the cold to settle in Huntington Beach in the early

1920s.

The elder Farquhar bought the Huntington Beach News newspaper in 1927

from James Conrad. George’s father made George the paper’s obituary

editor -- not bad for a boy of 13. George went to Huntington Beach High

School, where he graduated in 1932. While there, he was the editor of the

school’s newspaper, The Highlights.After graduation, George continued his

education at Santa Ana Junior College.He then attended UC Berkeley, where

he received a degree in journalism. George became the managing editor of

the News in 1937 at the age of 23.He would later become its reporter,

columnist, editor-in-chief and publisher.Farquhar gave the weekly paper a

new look by including, in each issue, several photographs of lovely

ladies in swimsuits or shorts and photographs of Hollywood’s

up-and-coming starlets.

For nearly his entire life, Farquhar surfed our waves with Huntington’s

pioneer surfer, Bud Higgins. When his father, Jim, died, George moved his

column, Shifting Sands, from the inner pages to the front page. His

column reflected life in small-town Huntington Beach.

Florence Wyllie, who with her husband, Tom, worked alongside George at

the News, told me George was never around the office on Main Street. He

usually could be found having breakfast or lunch with his friends -- J.

Sherman Denny, Paul Baker, Don Shipley and Ted Bartlett -- at Terry’s

Coffee shop on Main Street and gathering material for the paper’s next

edition.When the city shifted its legal advertising from the News to a

rival paper in 1979, George told a friend that when city leaders can’t

support their local newspaper, then it’s time to retire.

He sold the News that year but continued surfing our waves at the pier.

He could keep up with the best of them.

George passed away June 9, 1985, leaving Main Street with one less

George. Although Farquhar Park on Main Street was named for George’s

father, Jim, I’d like to think that it also honors George.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach 92615.