Sea Salt: Stan Waterman’s Story

If asked to name America’s best representative for scuba diving and underwater videography, only one name could lead the list: Stan Waterman. His marvelous 2005 book Sea Salt: Memories and Essays has just been reissued and if you haven’t read it, now is the time. Probably more people have been on a dive trip with Stan than any other diving icon and if you haven’t, you still may. One of his great friends and Jaws author, Peter Benchley, now deceased, had this to say about Stan’s book:

“Stan Waterman has spent more than half a century in, on and under the sea, and in these pages, he takes you with him on the amazing ride he calls his life. There is excitement enough in his encounters with wild animals and weird people to fill a hundred lives and all their fantasies. To cite just one example, have you ever wondered what it would be like to dive in the open ocean with a huge school of certifiably anthropophagous sharks as they gorge on the carcass of a whale .. at night? Probably not. But hang on, because when Stan recounts scenes from the filming of the classic 1971 documentary feature film, Blue Water, White Death, you’ll be there beside him, and astonished that anyone lived to tell the tale. Sea Salt is far more, however, than just a catalogue of critters and close calls. Stan has a profound rapport with the sea, and his command of language and literature eloquently conveys the depth of his feeling. The thoughtful, graceful writing sets the book a full step above most memoirs about the sea. Not only does Stan appreciate good writing - - you’ll be pleased to encounter an occasional quote from Joseph Conrad or Henry Beston - - but he’ll often turn a phrase or craft a paragraph that could well have come from the pen of a master.”

You can buy Stan’s book at Undercurrent at a low price offered by Amazon.com and our profits for the sale - - in fact, profit from any purchase you make while there - - will go directly to projects helping to save coral reefs. (288 pages, 32 pages of photographs, hardbound, $30 list price.)