Wave Woman

2020 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Biography History

“There are some people who venture into uncharted territory. They are referred to as pioneers, and that they are. In the world of surfing, one such pioneer was Betty. She was prominent, accomplished, and a champion surfer when women were not supposed to surf. She also ventured into bigger waves when most others were content to watch. Every young woman enjoying surfing in contemporary times should remember and appreciate Betty Heldreich. She made it ‘happen.’”
—Fred Hemmings, author, keynote speaker, and former surfing champion

“Betty Heldreich Winstedt was a lover of the ocean and a true surfing pioneer whose experiences in California and Hawaii were exceptional for the mid-1950s. Wave Woman is daughter Vicky’s heartfelt tribute to this capable, gifted woman who taught those around her to live in the moment. ‘Wake up and be somebody,’ Betty would challenge—advice that resonates soundly today.”
—Jane Schmauss, historian and founding member of the California Surf Museum

“Morph together Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Emily Dickinson, and Esther Williams and you have Betty Pembroke Heldreich Winstedt—a twentieth-century water Wonder Woman.”
—Ben Marcus, former editor of Surfer Magazine

“I've known Vicky since she went on Rell Sunn’s paddling excursion down the north coast of Molokai, and I was delighted to hear that she’s written a book about her mother, Betty, a pioneering Makaha surfer. Wave Woman presents a life story that will inspire female adventurers today—and their male counterparts. Betty Pembroke Heldreich Winstedt was a true adventurer at a time when it was much harder to stake out that turf.”
—Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and author of Let My People Go Surfing

“Betty Heldreich is not just the kind of surfer I admire—competitors whose happiness is defined not by winning big trophies but by the joy of experiencing incredible adventures alongside others. She is also the kind of person I admire—women and men who are 100 percent, authentically themselves. I’ve always said my biggest goal in life is to inspire people to chase their dreams, find happiness in the small things, and embrace all of who they are. Betty shared this goal and achieved it many times over, as her daughter Vicky shows in this surfing memoir. I am inspired by her positive resilience and passion for life.”
—Carissa Moore, professional surfer and 2011, 2013, and 2015 WSL Women’s World Tour Champion

“Wave Woman is a heartfelt tale about an inspiring surf pioneer. Betty Heldreich approached her life as a grand adventure, and Wave Woman captures her trailblazing triumphs and struggles.”
—David Davis, author of Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku

“When Vicky Durand’s mother spurned 1950s America for the life of a surfer in Waikiki and then Makaha, she plunged her daughter Vicky into a world of wonder—the gracious, pre–jumbo jet, pre-high-rise Hawaii that still fuels the mythology of surfing around the world. Pick up Wave Woman and you’ll enter that dreamtime in such exquisite, evocative detail that it may cause painful surges of nostalgia for what’s been lost. But what you’ll gain by reading Vicky’s wise study of a painful marriage and a woman’s need to express herself in the ocean could also inform your own life and those you love. Reading it, I realized that the Hawaii lifeguard’s admonition, ‘Never turn your back on the sea,’ works even better as a reminder to those of us who, like Vicky and her mother, need the ocean as much as we do breath.
—Don Wallace, senior editor of Honolulu Magazine

“Reading Vicky Durand’s Wave Woman made me wish that I had met her mother, Betty, in person. But by the end of the book, I realized that I had met this extraordinary woman, because Betty’s gentle personality and fierce spirit come alive in this story. A surfing pioneer, Betty rode the turbulent waves of her life with grace and style. Wave Woman is a moving tribute to an amazing woman.”
—Stuart H. Coleman, award-winning author of Eddie Would Go, Fierce Heart, and Hawaiian Hero