Discover the fascinating history of Weeki Wachee Springs told through vintage photographs of the mermaids from their earliest days performing silent ballets to the heyday when ABC built them a million-dollar theater. When Newt Perry sank a theater into the edge of the spring in 1947, he had no idea his mermaids would become world-famous Florida icons. Lu Vickers has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for

To some, it’s a paradise. To others, it’s a punchline. It’s actually both, as you’ll learn from the author of the New York Times best-selling Oh, Florida! How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. Craig Pittman is a native Floridian. Since 1998, he has covered environmental issues for Florida’s largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times. He has won the Waldo Proffitt Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism in