Robert Gardner, a colorful ... Gardner published the first of his two books, “The Art of Body Surfing,” in 1972. It was about the avocation he had pursued from boyhood. Also a board surfer ...

That was in his work and in his nature.” In an interview with Ilisa Barbash that was reprinted in “The Cinema of Robert Gardner,” a 2007 book, Mr. Gardner took stock of a career still in ...