History

Wild on the Beach started its life as a small shop in Lorne that specialized in beach themed decor, posters and homewares. For the Walding family who put the store together, it was another foray into retail after they had successfully operated the Lorne Surf Shop for over fifteen years.

The Wild on the Beach store was seen as a five year project and once that was done, it was decided to specialize, and continue to offer the same great range of vintage posters that had once hung on the walls of their small shop, as well as still offering the same level of service and advice that their shop was known for.

Murray, a trained school teacher, also had a brief career in the surf movie industry in Melbourne and was part of a network of movie men who continued to specialize in surf movies, ephemera and posters. His extensive knowledge of the genre saw him as a ‘go-to’ man for advice about the surf movie business which led him into the field of writing. His short story, the Milky Green, was a Radio National Short Story Competition prize winner and his first book, Blue Heaven ~ The Story of Australian Surfing, was a Surfing Australia Media Award prize winner. He followed that with the highly regarded Plastered - The Poster Art of Australian Popular Music, and then followed up again with Surforama - The Treasures of Australian Surfing.

Each of those titles sold out, went to reprint, then sold out again. The revised edition of Surforama was released in 2016. Murray’s latest - the Last Dance, is slated for release in 2018. His writings have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines and he is a contributing writer for Pacific Longboarder.