Kewl Kat Spotlight
This “Kook” Knows
How To Live…
By SJ.
For 29 years, this kat has been working inside one of the
country’s most infamous prisons…Folsom! Can you
imagine working with stone-cold murderers, in your face,
on a daily basis? Oh hell no! Surviving inmates dying in
his arms, bloodied ones landing on top of him, riots, tear
gas, naked-butt body cavity checks and oh my gosh, yes
there is worse than that he has had to deal with!
We caught up with ol’ Zane (who is 53 years of age) to
get his story:
SJ: So Zane, how the hell do you keep it together, dawg?
ZW: I surf at least once a week, sometimes twice!
SJ: When did you get in to surfing?
ZW: When I was a teen down in SoCal! My mom would
sometimes drive me and my buddies up and down the
coast in her Gremlin! It was a frickin’ blast!
SJ: Where do you surf at?
ZW: For now, it’s Capitola/Santa Cruz area.
It’s a two and a half hour drive, one-way.
SJ: Damn, that’s a long drive!
ZW: Yeah, I leave my house about 3am to make it to the
“Village” around 5:30am so I can be the first “kook” in
the water before the other “kooks” come out.
SJ: Kewl. Retirement? So you have been with Folsom
prison for 29 years, getting ready to start your 30th
year? Wow!
ZW: I know, right! I’ve seen @#$% and know @#$%
that you could never even imagine. This job affects
me on the outside too and I can’t wait for those iron
gates to close behind me for the very last time!
SJ: What are your retirement plans?
ZW: Wife wants to get a 5th wheel and travel across
the states. We’ve talked about moving back to
Huntington Beach, but now the wife is talking about
living in a shack in the Caribbean somewhere. I told
her I don’t care, just so long as I can surf every day!
SJ: That’s too funny! Thank you for taking some time
out for us, dawg!
ZW: Anytime! Stay rad!
SJ: Hahahaha, that’s frickin’ funny, dawg!
Where else have you surfed?
ZW: Costa Rica, Maui, SoCal…looking to hit Mexico this
year and now that my wife is a Travel Specialist, hoping
she’ll hook me up with some good spots and good rates
(he chuckled).
SJ: So you’re 53 years old, still surfing…what else do you
do?
ZW: Well, I used to race downhill mountain bikes but I
didn’t want to take the chance of getting injured and
missing out on surfing (he chuckled again). I skateboard
from time-to-time. For a few years I worked the starting
line for big events at Sacramento Raceway. Every
summer I head to the American River and just have to
take a jump off the ol’ foot bridge…you know, for the
heck of it cuz I can still do it. More so than some of these
young terds! Other than that, my focus is surfing and
retirement and my girls! My wife and three daughters!
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