Two Classic Memoirs by Stan Waterman

Writing your memoir can be a challenge after you've been around for a century and had a full and exciting life. Quite frankly, you've got too much material from which to choose. Stan Waterman was 80 when he wrote his first memoir, entitled Sea Salt.

Stan is a great raconteur, so it's no surprise it's full of captivating tales from his life as a favorite underwater cameraman for the movie industry. His close pal Peter Benchley (the author of Jaws, The Deep, etc.) wrote in a forward to Sea Salt:

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to make the acquaintance of one of the most extraordinary gentlemen of this or any recent age. And not just a gentleman but a filmmaker, an adventurer, an explorer, a daredevil, a gallant, a poet, an intimate of creatures as exquisitely exotic as the leafy sea dragon and the sloe-eyed cuttlefish and - this above all - a true pioneer in the discovery of our last frontier, the sea." This book should be in every diver's library.

Sea Salt: Memories and Essays by Stan Waterman $29.99

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A single volume doesn't do justice to Stan, a man who's filled his life with so much adventure. So, in 2015, 10 years after his first book, Stan, well into his 90s, felt compelled to write down a few more of his anecdotes, seductive in the telling. Sea Salt II - More Salt carries on with more of Stan's stories.

Peter Benchley (now sadly deceased) continues his homage to this man of the sea:

"Stan has a profound rapport with the sea, and his command of language and literature eloquently displays the depth of his feeling. The thoughtful, graceful writing sets the book a fair step above most memoirs about the sea. 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."

Sea Salt II - More Salt by Stan Waterman $36.06

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