Lu Vickers and Bonnie Georgiadis
Lu Vickers has published numerous essays and short stories in magazines such as Salon.com and Apalachee Review, and she has received three Individual Artist’s Grants for fiction from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. In addition to her novel Breathing Underwater, she has published various books on Florida history, including Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida’s Oldest Roadside Attractions, Cypress Gardens, America’s Tropical Wonderland, and Remembering Paradise Park: Tourism and Segregation at Silver Springs. Bonnie Georgiadis dived into mermaiding in 1953 when she was seventeen. She held her breath and stayed wet for fifteen years, then produced/choreographed seven underwater shows before drying out. She retired in Tarpon Springs, not far from water.