Anyone else would have left the water in frustration. Lopez merely laughed. He was 15, too young to realize the danger of Pipeline — a powerful wave that breaks in shallow water — but not too young to fall in love with its liquid dimensions.

Lopez was a gifted surfer, though. After getting advice from a veteran surfer that Saturday in 1963, Lopez found himself flirting with Pipeline's famous tube. Suddenly, he was having the time of his life — and he had a story to tell.

Decades later, it's hard to say which means more to Lopez: the surfing or the story.

"The thing about surfing is it doesn't take much," Lopez said by telephone from his home in Bend, Ore. "One good turn or a little tube ride or sometimes just a nice drop and it will stay with you for months, maybe a lifetime."

His graceful surfing made him one of the most beloved surfers in the history of the sport, but at 59, he's now making a splash in the literary world. This spring, Lopez published his first book, "Surf Is Where You Find It," (Patagonia Books), and a story he wrote is included in the just-released edition of the respected literary journal, Bamboo Ridge.

"In the course of this life I have led, there have been a few good stories I have told over and over again," he said. "Then at one point, I thought I better write them down before I forget them."

It's hard to imagine how Lopez could forget the adventures he lived or the characters he met.

He surfed with the greats of the 1960s and '70s surf boom — legendary shaper Dick Brewer, the fearless Buzzy Trent, the colorful Herbie Fletcher, fellow Pipeline specialist Rory Russell.

His surf travels took him to waves, both exotic and powerful, throughout Hawai'i and the world. He pioneered surfing in Indonesia — at Bali, Uluwatu and a place called G-land, which was short for Garajagan. And he was among the first to try tow-in surfing at Jaws.

THE CONSTANT

Throughout, there was Pipeline.

Lopez became the undisputed master of Pipeline, surfing it with more style than anyone before or since. His languid moments inside the falling curtain of water — the tube — were among the most sought-after shots by surf photographers.

But his daring there nearly killed him in 1980, when he was held under by a pair of 20-foot waves. Lopez survived after a fleeting "out-of-body experience" took him to the brink.

They are great stories from a lifetime of surfing, but they come with something more because Lopez is the one telling them. He is more than a humble witness to surf lore.

"He is a surf hero," said Steve Pezman, co-publisher of The Surfer's Journal. "He is like a Nureyev. People are fascinated by his perception of surfing and surfers and the whole deal, so getting to peek into his psyche and see how he thinks and feels is important."

Pezman was the publisher of Surfer magazine when he met Lopez in the 1970s. The young Lopez was immature, but Pezman said something was going on his head that set him apart from the masses of young surfers.

"He perceives surfing in an intelligent and thoughtful way," Pezman said. "He has a sense of humor, kind of droll, and he has had a lot of experiences with a lot of really fabulous characters in the sport."

Lopez credits his parents for his desire to articulate his deepest thoughts. His father was a career journalist in Honolulu and his mother a public school teacher.

"It was instilled in me from a very early age, a love of the written word," he said. "I was always an avid reader. I always loved a good story."

Over the course of the past 30 years, Lopez occasionally wrote for surf magazines. But many of the 38 stories in "Surf Is Where You Find It" have their origins in the past five years, after Lopez began writing regularly for the Japanese magazine Surf 1st.

"This friend of mine started a new surf magazine in Japan, and he wanted a story every month, and that was a lot of pressure," Lopez said. "Then I started producing more regularly, and I found I really liked it."

BOYHOOD MEMORIES

Lopez said the stories of his youth are his favorites; he offers warm glimpses of his boyhood growing up on O'ahu and Kaua'i.

One of them is "Sweet Candy Days," in which Lopez shares his family's early outings to the beach at Waikiki.

The three Lopez children played at the water's edge, ate meals cooked on a hibachi and got their first taste of surfing at a beginner's break called Baby Queen's. Fifty years after he rode them, Lopez still has vivid memories of his first waves.

Another is "Pakala," a story he wrote several years ago that is as much about plantation life on Kaua'i as it is about a favorite surf break. Lopez considers this his real favorite and is proud of the fact that it was selected for Bamboo Ridge.

"I've been reading Bamboo Ridge for years, but I've never had any aspirations of having any of my stuff appear there," he said. "Those are good writers. I am a surfer who writes a little."

His surfing friend and writing mentor, the late Big Island attorney Michael McPherson, helped Lopez make the connection to the journal. McPherson's poetry, short fiction, essays and reviews have appeared in literary journals, including Bamboo Ridge, since 1979.

"He was my tutor and helped me quite a bit," Lopez said. "He taught me about attempting to write seriously, and for that I am forever indebted."

McPherson told Bamboo Ridge editors about "Pakala," and they were surprised to learn it was written by Lopez. But they loved the story, said Eric Chock, an editor at Bamboo Ridge.

"It was nice to see that it was not just about surfing," Chock said. "It has a nice span of just growing up in Pakala and the local style. It has a little bit of plantation history and being Japanese."

A photograph of Lopez surfing a monster wave is on the cover of the new Bamboo Ridge. Chock, who grew up surfing south shore breaks, said it was a genuine thrill to have that shot.

"For me, it was just like a dream to have this famous person on the cover and in our issue," Chock said.

Lopez has lived in Bend full time since 1995. He and his wife, Toni, chose it over their Maui home because their son, Alex, was about to enter the first grade.

The elder Lopez still surfs in the 45-degree waters off the Oregon coast, outings that require a 200-mile drive to the ocean and a full wetsuit. He shapes surfboards, practices yoga and swims nearly two miles in a pool regularly.

He is also a huge fan of snowboarding, which he does with his son, now 18.

But Lopez doesn't surf Pipeline anymore.

The break is too crowded, and the pecking order of aggression too intense for the mellow Lopez. Instead, he'll watch from shore during visits to professional contests.

"There are too many guys that really want the waves, and I have had plenty," he said. "I don't want to get in their way."

Maybe it's a function of age, or the responsibility of being a parent or running a business, but Lopez is more at peace with his place in the world, even if that place is not inside the curving blue cape of Pipeline.

It seems an odd confession from someone who devoted so much of his life to the rhythms of the ocean — odd until Lopez explains that surfing is his metaphor for life.

He'll take a chance — on a wave or a word — and not fear the wipeout. He's learned that grace under pressure has rewards.

"In surfing the whole thing is to flow with it, otherwise you will get pounded," he said. "When you are surfing, the playing field is in motion. When you think about it, that is how life is. Life doesn't hold still for you. If you don't make the moves, life is just going to pass you by."