Robert Wilson Simmons (March 29, 1919 – September 26, 1954), better known as Bob Simmons, was an early surfing pioneer, and considered to be the father of the modern surfboard.
Simmons was born in Los Angeles, California. During his early teens, he developed a tumor on his left ankle which nearly caused his leg to be amputated. After beating the cancer, Bob was involved in a serious bicycle collision and, while staying in the hospital, he was advised to try surfing. He first got on a surfboard at age 20 at Newport Beach, California. In 1954, Bob drowned while surfing at Windansea Beach in San Diego, California.
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“Your real statesman is first of all, and chief of all, a great human being, with an eye for all the great fields on which men like himself struggle, with unflagging, pathetic hope, toward better things.... He is a guide, a counselor, a mentor, a servant, a friend of mankind.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)