Guanacaste province

Sending mail at Nosara, 1984.

Nosara is a city in the Nicoya canton, Guanacaste province of Costa Rica on the Pacific Coast.

Geography and demographics[link]

Despite the Nicoya peninsula being one of the last locations with large areas of unpaved roads in Costa Rica, Nosara is one of the oldest expatriate communities in the country, as well as a fishing and agricultural area.^[1]

Unlike most coastal tourist towns, Nosara lacks nearly any development directly on the beach as much of it consists of the Ostional Wildlife Refuge (necessitated by the presence of breeding Olive Ridley and Leatherback sea turtle populations). Nosara is also a surfing destination and the location of a world-renowned Yoga school.^[2]

The official town center is located 6 km inland from the beach. Within "Nosara town" is the market, pharmacy, post office, churches, school, police station, David S. Kitson public library and Red Cross clinic (Nosara lacks a hospital facility). There is a Banco Popular branch located in the small commercial area near Playa Guiones. In 2007, a new private school^[3] was opened with a bilingual Montessori and International Baccularate Organization (IBO) curriculum.

There are four main oceanfront communities each named after their respective beaches: Playa Nosara, Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada, and Playa Ostional. These comprise the largest areas of foreign-owned residences, tourist hotels and restaurants, centered around Guiones and Pelada. The "suburb" Esparanza de Nosara borders the Playa Guiones area, sitting between its first two beach entrances to the south. Esparanza hosts the Guiones area's largest market, a school and soccer (football) field, and a few new housing developments, hotels, and restaurants.

History[link]

The Guanacaste province belonged to Nicaragua during the Colonial period. It wasn't until after the nations of Central America gained independence from Spain that it was annexed and incorporated to Costa Rica on July 25, 1825.^[4] The government recognizes this date as a National holiday even though the boundary lines weren't changed until 1858. ^[5]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Sunset on Playa Guiones

• 

  Playa Pelada

Notes[link]

Coordinates: 9°59′N 85°39′W / 9.983°N 85.65°W / 9.983; -85.65

Corky Carroll
Personal information
Born	(1947-09-29) September 29, 1947 (age 64) Alhambra, California
Residence	Huntington Beach, California
Surfing career
Years active	1959-1972
Major achievements	US Surfing Championship (1966-70) International Surfing Championship (3 times)
Website	Corky Carroll Surf Co.

Corky Carroll (born September 29, 1947)^[1] was a professional American surfer and is considered a pioneer in the sport by becoming the first real professional surfer as well as being the first to receive endorsements.^[2]

Life and career[link]

Carroll started his career in 1959 at a very early age and by the time he retired in 1972, he was only 24 years old. From 1966-1970 he won the United States Surfing Championship and also won the International Surfing Championship three times. Altogether, Carroll won over 100 surfing competitions. After his surfing career, he became a musician and recorded nine albums along with writing several books on surfing. He subsequently opened a surfing school in California and designed surf boards. He frequently serves as the color commentator for world surfing events such as the annual competition in Huntington Beach, and pens a column in the Orange County Register.^[3] He has a home in Zihuatanejo, Mexico where he offers surf adventure trips.^[4]

• 1959

At age 11, places 3rd in his first surf contest, the inaugural U.S. Surfboard Championship, at Huntington Beach, the first major surf contest ever to be held in California. [1]

Helped design the first authentic surf trunks with Nancy Katin and are still in production today.

• 1962

Wins the junior division of the San Clemente Surf Capades contest. [2]

• 1963

Lands sponsorship with Hobie Atler, the largest surfboard manufacturer in the world at that time, and becomes the youngest member of the surf team.

• 1964

At age 16, becomes the first surfer ever to be paid to surf. [3]

Bruce Brown invites Corky to join the The Endless Summer promotional tour in order to promote the most famous surf movie of all time.

Appears on the Tonight Show with Johny Carson in New York and teaches Johny to skateboard.

Appears on the first of three Merv Griffin Shows.

• 1965

Wins first place at the Tom Morey Nose Riding Invitational – The first contest ever to pay prize money. [4]

Lands endorsement contract with Jantzen Sportswear appearing on the back cover of almost every Surfer Magazine for seven straight years.

• 1966

Achieves USSA (surf tour) #1 ranking and the first of five consecutive “best all around surfer” awards.

• 1967

Wins International Big Wave Championship in Peru.

Designs the first production short board solid in the U.S. called the 1967 Hobie Corky Carroll “Mini-model."

Appears on the TV show “What’s My Line”, trying to stump the panel as the world’s first “professional” surfer.

Befriends fellow surfer/musician Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys while filming his surfing for the background video.

Meets Mike Nesmith and the rest of the Monkees. 10 years later, Mike produced Corky’s hit gold record, “Tan Punks on Boards.”

• 1968

Voted #1 surfer in the world by his surfing peers, the greatest award of his career.

Wins World Small Wave Championship in Florida.

Pictured on the cover of Surfer Magazine “hanging ten.”

His Hobie CC Mini model achieves record sales.

• 1962–72

Corky wins over 100 surf contests worldwide.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Corky Carroll, Ask the Expert at OC Register
• Biography at Surf Line
• Biography at Surfing Museum

Linda Gray
Gray at The Heart Truth show in 2011.
Born	Linda Ann Gray (1940-09-12) September 12, 1940 (age 71) Santa Monica, California, United States
Years active	1963-present
Spouse	Ed Thrasher (1962-1983) (divorced) 2 children
Website
www.lindagray.com

Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940^[1]) is an American film, stage and actress, director, producer and former model, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.^[2]

Career[link]

Early life and career[link]

Linda Ann Gray was born in Santa Monica, California.^[1] Prior to acting, Gray working as a model in the 1960s and began her acting career in television commercials-nearly 400 of them,^[3] and also made brief appearances in the feature films, such as Under the Yum Yum Tree and Palm Springs Weekend in 1963.^[4]

Gray began her professional acting career in the 1970s, with guest roles on many television series such as Marcus Welby, M.D., McCloud and Switch. She also made appeared on films The Big Rip-Off (1975) and Dogs (1976).^[5]

In 1977 she was cast as fashion model Linda Murkland, the first transgender series regular on American television^[6] on the TV series All That Glitters.^[7] The show, a spoof of the soap opera format, was cancelled after just 13 weeks. Gray was then cast as suspicious wife Carla Cord in the 1977 television movie Murder in Peyton Place.

[edit] Dallas

Gray achieving stardom for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, J.R.'s long-suffering alcoholic wife, in the CBS drama series Dallas (1978-89, 1991).^[4] Initially a recurring guest role for the five-episode first series, Gray became a series regular later in 1978 and remained with the show until 1989. Her character was well received by television critics. The Biography Channel said, "Who could ever forget Dallas with the gin-swilling Sue Ellen Ewing, replete with shoulder pads long before Dynasty, staggering around Southfork Ranch with a permanently tearful expression as she suffered the brunt of J.R. Ewing’s evil ways?"^[8] The Boulevard Magazine said, "It may be 2009 and seventeen years since the primetime drama Dallas went off the air, but memories of the Ewing family still linger. Corruption and betrayal, lies, greed, affairs and scandal - all were just part of another day at the Southfork Ranch. At the center of it all was one of our favorite Ewings, the person we couldn't help but root for each week as she drank and slept her way through one ordeal after another. This, of course, was the tortured and (sometimes) villainous Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing, former Texas beauty queen and trophy wife of the womanizing rouge J.R. Ewing, played to perfection by actress Linda Gray."^[9] Gray was nominated for two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance on Dallas.^[10] She also received numerous international awards including Germany’s Bambi Award, Italy’s Il Gato and she was named Woman of the Year by the Hollywood Radio & Television Society in 1982.^[11][10]

[edit] After Dallas

After Dallas, Gray starred on 1991 comedy film Oscar with Silvester Stallone and then made guest appearances in British drama Lovejoy (starring her co-star and love interest from her final series on Dallas, Ian McShane). She also starred in several made-for-TV movies, including 1991's The Entertainers (with Bob Newhart), Bonanza: The Return (1993), Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter (1993), and Accidental Meeting (1994).

Linda Gray at The Heart Truth fashion show in February, 2011.

In 1994, she made several guest appearances on the Fox network primetime soap opera Melrose Place. She appeared in four episodes as businesswoman Hillary Michaels, the mother of Amanda Woodward (played by Heather Locklear). She played a leading role on the Melrose Place spin-off - Models Inc.,^[12] but the show only lasted a single season.

Gray appeared in the Dallas reunion TV movies Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996) and Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998). and in the following years did not appear in movies or on television.

In 2001, Gray portrayed Mrs. Robinson in the West End theatre production of Charles Webb's The Graduate.^[13] Gray made her theater directing debut with play Murder in the First, and other acting stage work includes Terms of Endearment, The Vagina Monologues, Agnes of God and Love Letters.^[11]

Recent years[link]

Gray returned to television in 2004 as a guest star in five episodes daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, playing Priscilla Kelly.

Gray starred in several independent films, including award-winning drama Reflections of a Life (2006), where she played best friend of a woman undergoing treatment for breast cancer, Expecting Mary (2010), The Flight of the Swan (2011) and Hidden Moon (2012).^[5]

In 2008, Gray appeared in The CW series 90210, which, like Melrose Place and Models Inc. before it, is a spin-off from the original Beverly Hills, 90210. Gray has now appeared in three of the five series in the franchise, though her role in 90210 was not Hillary Michaels, the character she played on Melrose Place (1992) and Models Inc.

In 2012, Gray stars as Sue Ellen Ewing on the TNT drama series Dallas, a continuation of the original series.^[14][15]

Personal life[link]

Gray was married to Ed Thrasher for 21 years. The marriage resulted in two children: Jeff Thrasher and Kehly Sloane.^[1] Gray also has two grandsons, Ryder and Jack Sloane. Her younger sister, Betty, died in 1989 from breast cancer. Gray is also the aunt (by marriage) of actress Lindsey Wagner, best known as The Bionic Woman. She resides in Los Angeles, California.^[16]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linda Gray

• Linda Gray's Official Web Site
• Linda Gray at the Internet Movie Database
• Linda Gray on Twitter
• BBC interview with Linda Gray and a review of her performance on stage in Terms of Endearment