When Newt Perry sank a theater into the edge of Weeki Wachee Springs in 1947, he had no idea his mermaids would become world-famous Florida icons. This presentation, based on Weeki Wachee Mermaids: Thirty Years of Underwater Photography, covers the fascinating history of Weeki Wachee Springs told through vintage photographs of the resident ‘mermaids’ from their earliest days performing silent ballets to their pinnacle of popularity.

Lu Vickers was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for fiction as well as two Florida Book Awards and three Florida Individuals Artists Fellowships. In addition to writing Remembering Paradise Park with C. Graham, she has written Breathing Underwater, a novel, and three other Florida history books: Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids, Cypress Gardens, America’s Tropical Wonderland, and Weeki Wachee, Thirty Years of Underwater Photography.

Funding for this Florida Talks program is provided in part by Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in partnership with the Clewiston Museum. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.