Crescent Head born Shane Stedman has compiled his fascinating life story of The Shane Gang, surfboard making, inventing Ugg boots and being in a rock and roll band into a 300-page book.
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Shane is without doubt one of surfing's big names. He grew up in Crescent Head in the 40s and 50s and speaks fondly of his one room primary school in the village.
"The best bit of information I learnt at primary school was how to treat a snake bite. I loved it there, one teacher and one classroom, it was great," he said.
Shane attended high school in Kempsey before moving to Sydney to study a production engineering course at university.
His entry into the world of making surfboards was in 1963, with his first board being shaped in his mum's garage on a dirt floor.
"When I lived at Crescent Head when I was younger, no one surfed the Point. No one did it," he said.
His simple plan of making boards to support his surfing lifestyle turned into a whole lot more.
"We were the biggest surfboard makers in the Southern Hemisphere and had the top surfers working for us," Shane said.
"The factory at Brookvale was 24/7 because I lived there."
Shane and his mates became the legendary Shane Gang, a tight-knit group of surfers. This group of surfers, shapers, sanders, designers and glassers became influential to the Australian surfing scene.
"We started a factory in Crescent Head for four or five years as well," he said.
During this time Shane invented the Ugg boot and sold the rights very early in their inception.
"It's a little known fact that I had a part in the beginnings of Ugg boots," he said.
Shane got the idea to write a book about his life so his grandchildren could read about his experiences.
"I started writing because I have so many stories and having a book will be great for my grandkids to read," he said.
"We don't talk about the past that much, but now they can read about it."
Shane self published the book and it's being distributed in surf shops across the state.
"Every surf shop knows Shane Surfboards, I haven't had one surf shop say no to selling the book. There's so many stories in there," he said.
Locals can buy Shane's book at the Crescent Head Surf Shop and the Crescent Head Newsagency.
"My life has been one big fun party. If it isn't fun, I don't want to know about it," Shane said.
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