Jock Serong’s Short History of… Mike Jennings
Surfing World Magazine, June 2015
“Mike brought instant change to the magazine. Thoughtful, funny, fair and interesting articles weren’t new to Surfing World, but tucking to your t-shirt into your jeans and shaving only one side of your head certainly were. Two years in, he took the job as Coastalwatch Editor, bringing a literate and passionate flair to the ugly gaping wound that is the innernet media.
Despite flagrantly cruising the internet all day in search of gifs and cat memes, Mike was rewarded with a new role as Senior Editor of SW. And there he penned probably the most important and best story of his career on Otis Carey, the indigenous surfer who called out the latent racism of the Australian surf community when he took on a surf magazine over its racially insensitive comments. It was a stand up or look away moment, and Mikey Jennings stood tall.” – Jock Serong
A Farewell to Mike Jennings
Who is very much alive but is moving to Canada
Magazine Intro, Surfing World Magazine, June 2015
“Jennings’ short career in the surf media has been a colourful one and his contribution to Surfing World extends well beyond the brilliant feature stories and same sounding Melbourne-based indie bands he reviews in Recommended each month. A student of magazine craft, it is no exaggeration to say his influence can be found on every page, be it the tweaking of coverlines, ideas for layouts, or an opinion on content. Even the basic structure and pace of the magazine have benefitted enormously thanks to his endless passion for this crusty old medium known as print.
Further to that, Jennings believes the Surfing World readers are intelligent, kind hearted and love surfing for all the right reasons. He strives to make sure each issue delivers the kind of experience that will not only be entertaining but will mean something to you after you put it down, because that’s how he felt when he read SW as a kid. In short, Jennings cares. A lot. About everything.” – Vaughan Blakey
Damaged Goods Zine, Issue 14, 2015
“You are a lucky person if you count Mike among your friends. He is exciting and loud, and gives one-armed mate-hugs when he’s drunk. He includes you in whatever’s happening, even if nothing’s happening. He lets most people stay on his couch. But best of all is when you get him on Facebook chat. He’s always up in the wee hours procrastinating, and just when you need him most he’ll be there for a hilarious hour or two, swapping mad lols and witticism while stressing about his deadlines.” – Nanda Ormond
Mike Jennings 