‘Crazy for the Storm’ is the memoir of Norman Ollestad, who grew up amidst the uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s. Thirty years ago, at just 11 years old, he was flying to a ski championship ceremony with his father when their plane crashed in the San Gabriel mountains. Norman was the only survivor. In the book he talks about his experience stranded 82,000ft up in ice and blizzards, his survival, his father and how it shaped him growing up.

A pretty powerful story and one that’s hard not to get sucked into – I can’t put it down. 15 publishing houses battled over the rights to publish Norman’s memoirs for months before Ecco books, an imprint of Harper Collins, won out with the hardback version hitting the bookstores this month. On top of that, the film rights have just been acquired by Warner Brothers.

The book can be bought from Amazon and all major book retailers.

This time we have him taking on no less of an epic journey as he leaves Porthcawl in search of hurricane surf up the East coast of the United States. Once over there he meets up with a childhood friend and it is the dynamic between the two which takes this book well beyond an ordinary travelogue. In many ways it reads more like a novel and the humour in Anderson’s voice keeps the pages turning as he covers issues ranging from growing up and friendship to the obsession that is surfing and the moral issues this can raise, particularly when you’re chasing waves that come from such a destructive source. It’s definitely a classic and should appeal not only to surfers but to anyone who enjoys a cracking yarn well told.

‘Chasing Dean’ is out now in paperback, published by Summersdale.

Tim Kevan is the author of ‘Why Lawyers Should Surf’ and ‘BabyBarista and the Art of War’. Find out more at www.timkevan.com.