Juliette Paskowitz (January 12, 1932 – May 3, 2021), born Juliet Emilia Paez, was an American singer and matriarch of "the First Family of Surfing".

Early life

Juliette Emilia Paez was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, one of eight children born to Mexican immigrants Salvador Paez and Emilia Paez. She trained as an opera singer at

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

Career

Juliette Paez worked as a telephone operator and was a singer with the

Roger Wagner Chorale The Roger Wagner Chorale is an American choir founded by choral musician and educator Roger Wagner in 1946. History In 1937, Roger Wagner joined the MGM chorus in Hollywood and was subsequently appointed Music Director of St. Joseph's Churc ...

before she married. Paskowitz and her husband opened a surf school at San Onofre in 1975. Along with their children, they were called "the First Family of Surfing". In 1991, the whole family recorded a song written by son David, "It's Real". A documentary, '' Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family'' (2007), explored their work and their unusual family life. She also appeared on ''

The Daily Habit ''The Daily Habit'' is a sports telecast airing on Fuel TV hosted by Pat Parnell. The show features personalities in the world of extreme sports, including surfboarding, skateboarding, snowboarding, as well as other personalities from entertainme ...

'' (2008), a news program about surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding. She sued

Lionsgate Television Lionsgate Television is the television division of Lionsgate, which is a Canadian–American entertainment company. History The company was established in July 1997 as Lions Gate Television, Inc. with the establishment of Lionsgate Films. It acq ...

and Polsky Films in 2015, for money owed from another project based on the family's story.

Personal life and legacy

In 1959, Paez converted to Judaism, learned to surf, and married physician and surfer

Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz (March 3, 1921 – November 10, 2014) was an American surfer and physician, who gave up practicing medicine for a living and decided to become a professional surfer. In 1972, he founded a surf camp run by his family, wh ...

, as his third wife. (They also married in 1964 in Hawaii.) They had nine children, eight sons and a daughter, born between 1959 and 1974, and raised the children in camper homes, traveling often including stints in Mexico, Hawaii and Israel, but usually based near

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

. After their children were grown, the Paskowitzes lived in

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. She was widowed when Doc Paskowitz died in 2014, and she died in 2021, aged 89 years, at a care home in

San Clemente, California San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

. She was survived by her nine children: David, Jonathan, Abraham, Israel, Moses, Adam, Salvador, Joshua, and Navah, as well as 27 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Her son Salvador Paskowitz became a noted screenwriter. Her daughter, Navah Paskowitz, married actor

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

's son Matt, and is active in autism charities. Israel (Izzy) still runs Paskowitz Surf Camp, with sessions in California, Mexico, and New York.

References

External links

* * Izzy Paskowitz, Daniel Paisner,
Scrathing the Horizon: A Surfing Life
' (St. Martin's Publishing 2012). ; a memoir by one of Juliette Paskowitz's sons {{DEFAULTSORT:Paskowitz, Juliette 1932 births 2021 deaths American musicians of Mexican descent People from Long Beach, California American women singers Surf culture American female surfers