To honor a surfer who dies, other surfers hold a Paddle Out. My husband and I witnessed the largest one in Santa Cruz history last Sunday, in honor of Jack O’Neill, who died in June at the age of 94. He lived nearby, and most of the over 1000 surfers who participated paddled out from the region between the Hook and the Point. They formed a huge circle in Monterey Bay, while thousands more watched from the shore. Boats and a helicopter also took part in the watery ceremony.

None of my pictures or videos came out well. Others have posted to Youtube.

The founder of O’Neill Surf Shops is usually credited with inventing the wetsuit. He at least popularized its use in surfing, replacing the heavy sweaters previously worn. He also perfected the surfboard leash; a leash accident was responsible for the eye injury that caused him to wear an eyepatch, pirate-style, for most of his adult life.

Though our California lives intersected with his for eight months, we never saw him. He was known for shouting advice to surfers from his seaside home. He had a nurse with him by then, and the two of them sometimes walked, he using a walker, she pushing a stroller with his small dog inside.

Since his death, of course, there have been many remembrances circulating in the press, on the internet, and on the radio. He was famous for both pranks and retorts, and many startling examples seem to indicate that kindness wasn’t his leading trait. However, the victims of these share them enthusiastically, seeming more pleased by the attention than stung by the vitriol.

Although he was not a multi-billionaire, O’Neill left an estate worth over a half-billion dollars, and I think that qualifies him as a hugely successful entrepreneur. Wealthy entrepreneurs we read about so commonly have extreme personality traits that I think it is probably impossible to achieve that status without those traits. One has to be very single-minded, at least during the time when one is building the business, in order for that business to reach empire status. O’Neill apparently spent hundreds of hours in the water experimenting with his inventions, and out of the water building and selling them.

Being single-minded doesn’t guarantee a major hit, though. Having worked for a few startups that did not grow into Facebook, I have observed some dedicated entrepreneurs in the single-mindedness stage who are not in the headlines today. I remember one making a completely dangerous U-turn in four lanes of highway traffic when we got lost on the way to an investor meeting, and another staying up  all night before a trade show to repair a prototype damaged in shipment.

I don’t know about the rest of the non-billionaires out there feel, but I am content with my numerous decisions to knock off work for happy hour, the school play, or vacation, especially since skipping those might not have made the slightest difference.