Heith Norrish (left) and Dane Pioli - is there any other
time better for surf film making than dawn?
Just a few months short of his 21st birthday in 1967, Bobby was sharing
a quiet evening at the pub when a violent attack from another man
left him with a critical injuries, to which he succumbed three days
later. The tragedy rocked not only the surfing world, but devastated
his close family and young fiancé Lorraine McIntyre.
Andy McKinnon recently said of the tragedy, “Understandably his
death and unexpected loss shattered the Brown family, survived
by his older brother John, younger brother Terry (both surfers) and
his parents Jack and Glad. His future wife-to-be, Lorraine, was grief
stricken - the loss of her life partner too hard to bear, and she is only
now coming to terms with the loss. The Cronulla surfing community
was totally devastated by his unexplained early demise. Their favourite
surfing son, regarded as the number one surfer from Cronulla and the
south side of Sydney, was struck down in the prime of his life. It was
as though the age of innocence had passed and his loss impacted
heavily on all those who knew him personally.”
For three successive years after, the Bobby Brown Memorial Open
contest was held around Cronulla, with Midget Farrelly taking the first
one in ‘68, then Bobby’s close friend Frank Latta won at Sandshoes in
1969, and finally a young kid from the Gold Coast would win the third