Old Guys Rule

Get better, not bitter

Stan Waterman turned 100 years old last week. If you don’t know who he is, go Google him right now (it’s OK, I’ll wait). Better yet, read his memoir, Sea Salt. You’re in for a treat. Waterman (has anyone had a more appropriate surname?) is a legend, an inspiration, and has been an absolute role model for me. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he became the first resident of Maine to purchase the then new “aqualung,” thus starting a remarkable career as a pioneering underwater photographer and cinematographer. He filmed a year long family odyssey in French Polynesia in 1965, took some of the first footage of great white sharks in the early 1970s, and went on to contribute his skills to movies like The Deep and countless Discovery Channel and National Geographic TV specials. He was no blunt instrument, but rather a literate and articulate gentleman, who studied literature and poetry at Dartmouth from the likes of Robert Frost. He also cut a rakish figure with his pipe clenched in his teeth, Doxa watch on his wrist and, later in life, an eye patch.