Ron Stoner, gifted but troubled 1960s surf photographer from Dana Point, California; best known for his well-composed, color-saturated images of Southern California, Mexico, and Hawaii. Stoner was born (1944) in Long Beach, California, raised in Pasadena, and began surfing at 14, just before he started taking photographs. Stoner was 23 when he was diagnosed as schizophrenic and given 18 electroshock therapy treatments, which left him docile and nearly mute, but functional. He mysteriously disappeared in the 70s and was pronounced dead in 1994.