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Michael Peterson | |
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Born | 24 September 1952 |
Died | 29 March 2012 59) [1] Tweed Heads South, New South Wales, Australia [2] | (aged
Nationality | Australian |
Occupation | Surfer |
Years active | 1973–2012 |
Michael "MP" Peterson (24 September 1952 – 29 March 2012) was a professional Australian surfer, regarded as one of the country's leading surfers during the early to mid-1970s. He was particularly known for his deep tube riding skill at Kirra on the Gold Coast, Australia. Peterson was the Australian champion in the years 1972 and 1974 and won several other major surfing competitions. Later in life, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and became publicly associated in usage of illicit drugs. [3]
Peterson was born into a working-class family and lived in several locations before the family settled in Coolangatta on Queensland's Gold Coast when he was 15. He lived there with his mother, Joan, his younger brother, Tommy, and his younger sisters, Dorothy (Dot) and Denice. [4]
Peterson began surfing on "surf-o-planes," an inflatable rubber mat device invented in 1932, [5] before progressing to a "Coolite," a board made from polystyrene beaded foam introduced in the early 1970s. [6]
Peterson got his first surfboard in 1966 by retrieving broken and abandoned boards that had washed up on the rocks at Greenmount Beach. Since leg ropes had not yet been introduced, surfers often lost their boards in the waves, allowing people like Peterson to collect the remains. He and his brother would take the damaged boards home, make rough repairs, and return to the water to test them. [4]
On 29 March 2012, Peterson died of a heart attack whilst inside his Australian home at Tweed Heads South, New South Wales; he was 59 years of age. [2] Peterson was honored with a memorial service at Kirra. Mick Fanning, Rabbit Bartholomew and Kelly Slater were in attendance. Doug 'Claw' Warbrick spoke at the send off. [7]