Last week end we attended the "International Under Water Film Festival" and the "International Diving Hall of Fame Awards Dinner"
For some of us that have been involved in the Diving Industry or just plain diving for fun for a long time, once again this event brought us close to some of the icons of diving that we have seen in TV documentaries or heard of from many many years.
In this year's event and thanks to Cathy Church, we had the opportunity to meet and chat for a little while with Valerie Taylor "The Shark Lady". Ron and Valerie hail from Australia and since the sixties they have been diving all over the world doing documentaries including many National Geographic episodes.
Listening to Valerie how she went from been a Champion Spear fisher to a Champion Conservationist is inspiring. Her passion for all creatures and specially marine creatures and her will to share that passion is a moment that we will not forget.
Although the event was well attended I can not help it but feel sorry for those dive fans that do not know what an opportunity they are missing every time this event comes around.
Since its inception, the International Diving Hall of Fame allowed me to meet personally with the most iconic figures involved in diving including the ones that were already famous when I was a kid. I did not get to meet Lloyd Bridges but I met his family, Jean Michelle Cousteau, Paul Tzimoulis, Stan Waterman, Al Giddings, Gery Murphy and others. They will not remember me but I will certainly remember them,the attention given and the few words we spoke. For ever they will be my heroes!
Until next dive.
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