The word Legend is used so loosely today that it’s ridiculous. Legend is a very powerful word. It’s a word that means you have reached the highest level of your field and now you turn around and help those that inspire to be like you and join you on the top of the mountain.
In the case of Charlie Bunger, you want to join him on your surfboard on the very highest of waves.
In my life, I truly have been lucky to get to know true Legends. People like George Steinbrenner, Henry Kissinger, Reggie Jackson, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan. These are people that commanded the world stage in one way or another.
Charlie Bunger was my father Inlaw. To my wife Theresa, he was just her dad so I never understood the magnitude of the man until I found out what surfing was all about. After twenty years I still know nothing about surfing, but I do know that on Long Island it’s truly a beloved sport. I have gotten to know that the three most important things to do out here in Babylon and the neighboring areas are to breathe, eat, and surf.
Charlie discovered surfing as a kid and practically made all of the east coasts fall in love with it too.
After I realized that this man was a true legend and liked him that much more because he was such a humble and sweet man who treated everyone young or old rich or poor black or white … like a true equal. When I first walked into the Bunger Surf Shop, the thing that Impressed me was the different denominations of people working there. Also how everyone was treated like family.
Today Charlie Bunger is being inducted into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame along with Ralph Macchio from Karate Kid fame and several others. It’s a proud day for the Bunger family and the worldwide surfing community.
To me it’s a proud day for the human community because of all the true legends that I have ever known, Charlie Bunger may have been the best person. Definitely, the best father Inlaw one could ever have.
True congratulations to the Bunger Siblings… Wife Janet, sons Charlie Jr. Tommy, daughters Theresa and Susan, and all the grandkids.
