This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Dive Indsutry


Rewriting the history books


The Diving Almanac is the ultimate authority on diving exploits and history, but what’s the story behind the stories?


By Jeffrey Gallant


I


was dreaming of overnight success... Reality struck at my fi rst DEMA Show where I met veteran publisher Rick Stratton who looked me straight in the eye and said: “No matter how well it goes, DO NOT quit your day job!” In


retrospect, it was good advice. It was 2004, when after more


than a decade of writing for DIVER, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be fun to write my own book!” I had briefl y pondered starting my own magazine but DIVER was establishing itself as a continental powerhouse and I didn’t have the means or the chutzpah to


54 Magazine


compete on Phil’s turf. It fi nally hit me while I was writing a story on freediving records. What was missing was a repository of information where divers could instantly access a reliable compendium of diving records, diving history and the people who made it all happen. After months of planning to lay the groundwork, and buoyed by my youthful spirit of invincibility, I went on sabbatical to write the fi rst almanac and records book for divers. Despite my background as a


writer, teacher, and researcher, I quickly realised what a daunting


A comprehensive compendium of diving facts - all digital, and all for free!


task it would be. At the time, there was very little information available on the web so much of what I uncovered came from my extensive book collection. I sifted through thousands of pages of often-confl icting stories to compile a history of the accomplishments and milestones of the diving community. Writing the manuscript was


but the tip of the iceberg. For the neophyte that I was then, the world of self-publishing was like walking blindfolded through a mine-fi eld. Digital publishing was still in its infancy so the printer was


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