Joel Patterson

Joel Patterson grew up surfing and skateboarding in the heart of the “action sports” industry—Newport Beach, California—but despite being surrounded by people who saw these activities as a route to a paycheck, he fell in love with the art of these scabby tribes. In 1994, he was hired as an assistant editor at Transworld Skateboarding magazine where he worked for over six years, ultimately becoming its editor. In 2000, he traded his skate bona fides for the editor in chief position at Transworld Surf, and spent the next seven years there helping the surf community tell stories from different perspectives. In 2008 he jumped ship and took the helm at Surfer magazine, where he steered the most influential action sports magazine of all time through its 50th anniversary. Patterson now lives in Los Angeles and works as both Surfer’s editor-at-large and as a freelance writer.