Diving Pioneers and Innovators: A Series of In-depth Interviews

The book manages to combine humor, adventure, tragedy, triumph, heroism, and even some forays into the risqué… while chronicling the careers of 20 enduring personalities that helped make diving what it is today. Some of those interviewed are retired now, one (author Peter Benchley of Jaws fame) recently passed away, and many are still making history through their ongoing work. It’s quite a group. Consider that the lineup includes actress and Sea Hunt star Zale Parry who also set the depth record for women divers back in 1954. Stan Waterman provides both the book’s Foreword and a revealing insider look at his seven decades in diving. Living legend Bev Morgan pioneered the first dive training programs along with revolutionizing commercial diving equipment. His image in full hardhat dress also graces the book’s cover. Morgan’s candor and humor set the pace for the lively montage of dialogues to follow with Australian couple Ron and Valerie Taylor who rose to fame in the iconic shark documentary film Blue Water, White Death. They are joined by others from diving’s first generation including filmmaker Al Giddings (The Deep, Abyss, Titanic, etc.), retail pioneer and cameraman Chuck Nicklin (The Diving Locker), manufacturers Dick Bonin (Scubapro) and Bob Hollis (Oceanic), photography masters Ernie Brooks and Paul Humann, as well as deep ocean explorer Dr. Bob Ballard who discovered the wrecks of the Titanic, Bismarck, and PT-109. Diving’s second generation of innovators includes cave explorer Wes Skiles, filmmaker Mike deGruy, wreck explorer John Chatterton (of Shadow Divers fame), IMAX film producer Greg MacGillivray, and the dynamic husband/wife team of Howard and Michele Hall who seem to dominate the realm of documentary underwater films now (Island of the Sharks, Coral Reef Adventure, Deep Sea 3D). Last but not least, Stan Waterman talked Gilliam into sitting for an interview about his own amazing career and, typically, he shares a wicked sense of humor along with some biting perspective about what it was like to champion new technologies and daring approaches to diving business when the sport’s ultra-conservatives wanted to suppress nitrox, liveaboards, technical diving, diving computers, training methods, and honest journalism. Each chapter is a slice of human interest that lets the reader briefly pull back the curtain on the personal lives of diving’s heroes and feel like they are part of the conversation. The full color book is lavishly illustrated with great photographs that capture each interviewee throughout their diving careers. It’s a very personal journey and the reader will feel like they pulled up a chair and shared a cup of coffee around a table with each person. Gilliam enlisted help from other leading writers for some interviews he couldn’t conduct himself and Fred Garth, Lina Hitchcock, Eric Hanauer, Douglas Seifert and Michel Gilbert & Danielle Alary all make significant contributions to round out the book. It’s a massive volume, 8x11 inches in size, 496 pages, hard bound, and weighing in at a whopping eight pounds per copy.

In a career spanning 35 years in professional diving, Gilliam has logged more than 17,000 dives in military, commercial, scientific, filming and technical diving operations. He was one of diving’s most successful entrepreneurs with investments in publishing, training agencies, manufacturing, resorts, dive vessels, cruise ships and film support companies. Author of more than 600 papers, he has been published worldwide. Bret was senior editor with Scuba Times, Rodale’s Scuba Diving and Diving Adventure magazines as well as publisher of Deep Tech and founder/publisher of Fathoms. He is the principal author or contributor to 27 books. He was elected to the Explorers Club and the Boston Sea Rovers. Bret lives on an island in Maine now after 25 years running diving operations in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific regions.