Bill Meistrell, 77; Helped Revolutionize Diving and Surfing With Light Neoprene Body Glove Wetsuit

Introduced in the early 1950s, wetsuits flopped among surfers, who saw the uncomfortable rubber skins as more suitable for wimps than wave riders. Enter Bill Meistrell, a dive-shop owner who used a synthetic called neoprene to create a lighter, more flexible suit. At first, his suits were sold under the label Thermocline until his friend Duke Boyd, a founder of Hang Ten, said the name was terrible. "What's so good about your suit?" Boyd asked. "Well, it fits like a glove," Meistrell replied. "And he said, 'Well let's call it Body Glove.' " Meistrell, whose Body Glove wetsuits helped revolutionize surfing and deep-sea diving, died Tuesday from Parkinson's disease at his home in Rancho Palos...