Diving legend Stan Waterman, an underwater photographer and underwater-film-producing pioneer, began diving in 1936. Ten years later he graduated from Dartmouth with an English degree after having studied with Robert Frost.
But the diving life was too attractive. In the early 1950s, inspired by Jacques Cousteau, he bought an Aqua Lung and then operated a dive business in the Bahamas and produced a 16 mm film on diving. He recorded his underwater adventures for another 15 years; some became television documentaries.
In 1968 he and Peter Gimbel created “Blue Water, White Death,” which became a classic shark film. He co-directed underwater photography in “The Deep” and worked for a decade on TV’s “American Sportsman Show,” “Spirit of Adventure” and “Expedition Earth.”
He earned five Emmys, more than any other underwater filmmaker; the Cousteau Diver of the Year Award; and a place in the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.
His book “Sea Salt” was published in 2005. Waterman continues to run dive tours.
Waterman will speak at the LiveWell Ventures Underwater Film Festival from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Edmonds Conference Center, Chrysanthemum Hall, 201 Fourth Ave. N., Edmonds.
The program includes six films, including “Diving the Maldives,” “Monsters &Dragons” and “The Banda Sea &Island of the Snakes.”
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
Picture perfect: Time to sort all those slides, prints and digital images and then select your best shots for the annual Washington Trails Association’s Northwest Exposure photography contest.
Divisions are winter, spring, summer, fall, people in the wild, offbeat outdoors and young photographers (age 17 and younger).
Limit is six photographs, one in each category, although young photographers can enter in each of seven categories. All photographs must have been taken in Washington.
Entry forms must be received by Oct. 5. For more information and entry forms, go to www.wta.org/photocontest.
Freebie: Put you wallet away Sept. 29 when the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Olympic National Park and other parklands waive entrance fees in celebration of National Public Lands Day.
The waiver applies to parks, trailheads, boat launches, picnic areas, and cultural and historical interpretive sites.
National Public Lands Day celebrates the efforts of volunteers who each year contribute more than 50,000 hours of work to maintain trails and patrol nine wilderness areas, according to wilderness and trails specialist Gary Paull.
If you’d like another fee-free day, join the Sept. 29 Iron Goat Trail work party. The Volunteers for Outdoor Washington and The Mountaineers are sponsoring the outing at the Iron Goat interpretive site at milepost 58 on U.S. 2.
Volunteers must be 14 or older (one-day free passes will be given to those 16 and older) and registered by Tuesday at www.trailvolunteers.org or www.mountaineers.org. Work assignments will be age-appropriate.
The work crew will put the trail to bed for the winter and complete construction of the Windy Point crossover and the bypass around a landslide over the ADA trail on the scenic segment. Following the work day, a barbecue will be held in the Skykomish Town Park; volunteers bring side dishes and salads.
Questions? Call the Skykomish Ranger Station, 360-677-2414.
Moving along: The supervisor’s office for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest moved Sept. 14 from Mountlake Terrace to Everett, setting up shop in 8,600 square feet on the third floor of the Wall Street Building, 2930 Wetmore. The new telephone number is 425-783-6100.
The move to smaller digs will save about $145,000 a year, according to supervisor Robert Iwamoto.
Before the move, the Forest Service occupied 17,424 square feet with 34 employees. In 1990, when the office moved from downtown Seattle to Mountlake Terrace, there were 121 employees and 34,000 square feet.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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