Sonoma Speaker Series: In Conversation with BETHANY HAMILTON

Bethany Hamilton has become a source of inspiration to millions through her story of determination, faith, and hope. At the age of 13, Bethany lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her career as a rising surf star. One month after the attack, Bethany returned to the water and within two years had won her first national title.

In 2007, she realized her dream of surfing professionally and since then, her story has been told in a New York Times best selling autobiography and in the 2011 film, Soul Surfer. Bethany is involved in numerous charitable efforts, including The Beautifully Flawed Foundation, which reaches out to amputees and youth, encouraging and offering hope.

Using her platform as a professional athlete to promote living a fit and healthy lifestyle, she authored the book Body and Soul in 2014. Bethany’s latest film project, Unstoppable, a surf documentary which showcases her as one of the best women surfers in the world, released theatrically in the USA on July 12, 2019, accompanied by a photo book and a children’s book.

Passionate about family and about helping young women be unstoppable in life and faith, Bethany launched the Unstoppable Living online courses in 2019, a mother-daughter mentorship program in 2022, known as the ‘Ohana Experience, along with another children’s book called Surfing Past Fear.

Her greatest joy is being a wife and mother, and she continues to touch and inspire lives globally as a professional surfer and motivational speaker.

Hamilton will be in conversation with Sonoma Speaker Series Board Member, Laura Zimmerman. Readers Books will have signed copies of her book(s) on sale in the lobby before and after the speaker presentation.

Host or Publisher Sonoma Speaker Series