Surfers around here know Cal Porter as the all-around waterman who has spent his whole life here on the SoCal coast. History buffs mine his blog, Then and Now, for pix and stories about surfing and life on the California beach.

Shawn Hubler, a former LAT writer who now works with Zev Yaroslovsky, just featured Cal in a great post about the history of LA's lifeguards. (Cal's the guy on the right.)

For yours truly, he's the guy who regularly kicks my derriere in Boggle and Quiddler and Upwords. Sometimes, he gets a little soft-hearted and lets me win.