The Passion of Walnut Creek's World Beard Champ

 Jack Passion became Jack Passion the night he graduated high school.

It was at the 2002 senior overnighter at Walnut Creek's Las Lomas High School. Normally a bass player, Passion and his band were practically blasting their way out of the gym.

"I felt like I wanted to go out with fiery rock fury," says Passion, without a trace of irony. Few people are so serious when it comes to discussing fiery rock fury. "It was my first performance as Jack Passion. At 4:30 a.m., everyone wanted to go to sleep. Nobody wanted to hear my guitar. I didn't even play guitar. I wanted to break out of my bass bondage."

That's pretty passionate.

The 26-year-old Passion, AKA The Pash, is a musician and a philosopher (with a degree from UC Santa Cruz). But he's best known for being a two-time world beard champion, thanks to the three feet of thick red hair cascading off his face.

"Corporate America – Gillette – says facial hair is not sexy," says Passion, sitting on a bench in Walnut Creek's Civic Park. "Hair grown when testosterone is optimum - it's sex hair. I'd argue that my beard has helped me get women, get jobs, make friends and stand out."

It hasn't hurt his confidence, either.

It's not difficult to recognize the 26-year-old walking around his native Walnut Creek, occasionally posing for pictures. He's a natural double-take. People cheer his beard from passing cars. They stop him mid-conversation to say they like the beard. 

He's been featured in a number of publications. He's been on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, and Good Morning America, among others.  

And right now, his beard is his full-time job.

He recently added author to the resume, self-publishing  The Facial Hair Handbook, a funny, 107-page guide containing more facial hair information than anyone ever thought they needed (available at www.jackpassion.com).

Tips include how to pick styling products, how to deal with itching, and what to do if your beard catches fire ("Hopefully someone will get a picture, because you're going to look pretty hardcore!")

"There's a big wave about to crest and I'm paddling hard," says Passion, who wrote the book in response to all the men stopping him in public asking him for facial hair advice. "I want to tell guys 'This is how you rock your beard.' I'm living off this – and a lot of grass-fed beef. My first endorsement came from Hearst Ranch Beef. It's quality protein. To grow a good beard, you have to have good animal protein. Grass-fed beef has a lot of Omega-3. It's hair food."

It's knowledge like this that made the Pash such a dominate competitor at the World Beard and Moustache Championship, which he won in Brighton, England in 2007, and Anchorage in 2009. He's heading to Austria in September for his next shot at bearding glory.

He doesn't just comb his beard and hope for the best. He dressed the part in 2007, selecting a Tom Wolfe-ish white suit and hat. He trash talks his rivals. He exudes confidence. He is The Pash.

"In boxing there was Muhammad Ali; in bearding, there's Jack Passion," he says, matter-of-factly.  

He dominates his sport so thoroughly, organizers asked him to sit out this year's competition "to give someone else a chance," he says. "So I emceed. All the people I've crushed in the past have now befriended me."

Phil Olsen, the Captain of Beard Team USA in 2007, called Passion "The Tiger Woods of the sport of bearding."  Fellow bearder and close friend Burke Kenny said Passion has beard qualities others just can't match, with good shape and outstanding color.

The attitude isn't bad either.

"In a world of complete mediocrity, this is something I can push myself at, so I don't become a corporate drone," says Passion, who used to work at the Apple store in Walnut Creek.

So in the 21st century world of reality entertainment, wouldn't a show about a man – who's never done a drug or been drunk - with a red beard hanging to his waist, dispensing life philosophy and tip on quality facial hair, be a natural for reality TV?

Exactly.

"I'm doing a pilot," says Passion, who wouldn't divulge too many details, other than he was on his way to L.A. in less than 24 hours.  He does say the name might be something like "Whisker Wars."

"If that (became) a series, I'd be the envy of every Walnut Creek housewife," Passion says, smiling at the possibilities.

"I'm a beard ambassador and I stumble upon some crazy adventures."