Linnea's Movie Wins Accolades

As I sat on a stage in New Jersey last Saturday night answering questions asked through tears and fury, I felt a flush of deep gratitude. Nobody in this audience knew Linnea, nor were they scuba divers. But they realized that what happened to my girl could easily happen to their loved ones. They understood that Linnea’s death was not an accident. They wanted to know more about the madness and negligence of the scuba industry, and how they could help take action to prevent more senseless deaths of students in training classes.

I was grateful to share that as a direct result of the previous showings of Damon Ristau's How to Kill a Mermaid, and subsequent media coverage (including Outside Magazine), some leaders in the dive industry are advancing proposed safety improvements to dive training standards. (Also see the beautiful essay "The Card I am Willing to Sign.)"

I also shared ForLinnea.org, a clearinghouse of things people can do to advance safety outcomes within the dive industry, while also pushing for accountability for those whose negligence killed Linnea.

When Jenn Knauer and I left the building, buoyed by the compassion and righteous anger of strangers, we were told by film festival attendees that they expected How to Kill a Mermaid to win one of the awards.

By the time we landed in Seattle we learned that the film won BOTH Best Documentary and Audience Choice Awards at the New Jersey Documentary Film Festival!