RIP: DAVID EGGERS Child prodigy and '80s surf star passes away at 45

Published: November 17, 2015

November 17, 2015 Views: 4,389







RIP: DAVID EGGERS Child prodigy and '80s surf star David Eggers passes away at 45..





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Related David Eggers at Ocean Beach during a Hang Ten contest in 1983, his prime. Photo: Jeff Divine

Eggers had a roomful of trophies before he had a driver's license. Photo: Aaron Chang

Standout amateur performances placed David in the spotlight at a very early age. Newport Beach, 1981. Photo: Mike Moir

At a beloved La Jolla reef. Photo: Don Balch

Recent shot of Eggers. "The David we knew was gone a long time ago, but he’ll be greatly missed.” Photo: Facebook



Yesterday, ‘80s surf star David Eggers passed away



After winning most of the contests he entered as an amateur, the San Diego goofyfoot dropped out of high school in 10th grade and turned pro, with then-lucrative sponsorships from Gotcha and Body Glove. But in surfing’s most famous riches to rags story, he ended up quitting the tour a year later, got heavily involved with drugs and moved well inland, to the Salton Sea.



Later, Eggers was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which he had been on medication for since his early 20s. Eggers had been running his father’s bar for the last decade or so. “David was the barkeep,” family friend Gary Linden said. “He kept everything clean and ordered...and had his routines and his group of friends. The David we knew was gone a long time ago, but he’ll be greatly missed.”

from unknown causes at his Salton Sea home. “It was most likely a heart attack or stroke,” brother Scott posted to Facebook. Matt Warshaw’s Encyclopedia of Surfing entry on Eggers began: “Hyperactive child surf star from San Diego, California; an unbeatable amateur competitor in the early and mid-'80s, and a pro tour flameout by age 17.”