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Author of renowned surfing memoir comes to San Diego's writer festival

Writer William Finnegan is pictured in this undated photograph.
Courtesy of Point Loma Nazarene University
Writer William Finnegan is pictured in this undated photograph.

This week marks the return of the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University. Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Finnegan will be the featured writer on Wednesday February 22 at 7pm.

Finnegan is a writer known for his long time work with the New Yorker as well as the memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, which he referred to as "maybe the long story of trying to become an adult."

"I've had this kind of bipolar life and surfing is the North Pole of irresponsibility," Finnegan said.

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"But then there's the other impulse to be a responsible citizen, to contribute — and in my case — as a writer, to have opinions and inform my readers. So does that tension — that tug of war — I think all through the book."

Finnegan joined Midday Edition Tuesday to talk more about his work and love of surfing.

Visit the Writer's Symposium by the Sea website for the full list of events and featured writers.