Provides an entertaining history of one of Florida's oldest roadside attractions, Weeki Wachee Spring and its performing mermaids, that ranges from its development in 1947 to the present day, bringing together extensive archival research and interviews with dozens of mermaids and other park employees with 250 black-and-white and color photographs.

A focus on the photography and photographers that made Weeki Wachee Springs an iconic tourist destination of Florida.

It's a fresh start for Delores Walker when she boards a Greyhound bus bound for Florida. Leaving the Bronx far behind, she's headed for sunny Weeki Wachee Springs, frayed roadside attraction in danger of becoming obsolete with the opening of Walt Disney's latest creation, only miles up the road. Always more suited for a life underwater, Delores joins a group of other aquatic hopefuls in this City of Live Mermaids, where she discovers a world of sequined tails and amphibious theme shows that even Disney couldn't dream up. It's in this fantastic place of make-believe and reinvention that Delores Walker becomes Delores Taurus, Florida's most unlikely celebrity. Bringing together an eccentric assortment of outcasts, poseurs, and underdogs, this wise and poignant novel conjures up a time in America when anything was possible, especially in the Sunshine State. A story of family, chasing dreams and finding your way, Swim To Me will have you believing the impossible—even in mermaids from the Bronx.

Mermaids are like leprechauns: its very hard to sneak up and catch a glimpse of one. But in a hamlet on the Gulf Coast of Florida, people have been able to do just that since 1947, when Newton Perry opened a small roadside attraction with an underwater theater. For nearly 60 years, live mermaids have been the unique focal point of Weeki Wachee Springs. Mysterious and enchanting, these young performers have done everything from teaching a class to typing a letter underwater. They are carefully trained, completely enthusiastic, and delightful to see. Wander through the pages of this book and meet the mermaids of Weeki Wachee in their magical underwater theater.

Answer the enchanting siren call of the mermaid with this comprehensive, lavishly illustrated and intricately designed one-of-a-kind lifestyle compendium from the editor in chief of Faerie Magazine and author of The Faerie Handbook and globally published novel Mermaid, packed with lore, legends, facts and trivia, beautiful illustrations, and numerous step-by-step projects and recipes. Beautiful, seductive, mysterious, and potentially dangerous, the mermaid is a global literary and pop culture icon whose roots date back to ancient sea goddesses and Greek mythology. From Homer’s Odyssey and Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Little Mermaid to T.S. Eliot’s "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and the Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, this sea vixen has long seduced popular imagination. Cosmetic companies have drawn inspiration for their makeup lines from mermaids, as have designers throughout fashion history, from Jean Patou to Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen. The fishtail dress is a perennial long red-carpet staple, favored by the likes of Marion Cotillard, Sofia Vergara, and Blake Lively. Divided into four sections—Fashion and Beauty; Arts and Culture; Real Mermaids and Where to Find Them; and Food, Entertaining and Stories of the Sea—The Mermaid Handbook is a unique and sumptuous compilation filled with creative ideas for decorating and living inspired by these beauties from the deep. Learn to make a sailor’s valentine; a mermaid comb and crown; and a pearl and sequin paillette necklace. There are recipes for mermaid-themed poke bowls, aquatic-themed honey gingerbread cookies, and the official cocktail of the 1960s-era mermaid attraction Aquarama. Folklore expert Carolyn Turgeon also includes profiles of true modern mermaids, tail makers, and mermaid bars; visits mermaid attractions like Weeki Wachee Springs; and provides tips on getting beachy mermaid hair and creating an alluring eye.

Jump into the wacky, wild world of Florida For more than 30 years, investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman has chronicled the wildest stories Florida has to offer. Featuring a selection of columns that have appeared in the Tampa Bay Times and other outlets throughout Pittman’s career, this book highlights just how strange and wonderful Florida can be. With a folksy style, an eye for the absurd, and a passion for the history and environment of his home state, Pittman describes some of Florida’s oddest wildlife as well as its quirkiest people. The State You’re In includes a love story involving the most tattooed woman in the world, a deep dive into the state’s professional mermaid industry, and an investigation of a battle between residents of a nudist resort and the U.S. Postal Service. Pittman introduces readers to a who’s who of Florida crime fiction, a what’s what of exotic animals, and an array of beloved places he’s seen change rapidly in his lifetime. Many of these stories are funny, some are serious, and several offer rare insights into the heart of the Sunshine State. For Pittman, Florida is both inspiring and dangerous—an “evolutionary test” for those who live in it. Together these pieces paint a complex picture of a fascinating state longing for an identity beyond palm trees and punchlines.

In this award-winning debut collection, fifteen magical realism stories portray girls and women searching for an escape from their everyday lives. “In villages where women bore most of the weight of a constricted life, witches flew by night on broomsticks,” said Italo Calvino of the way imagination bridges the gap between everyday existence and an idealized alternative . . . The fifteen stories of Animal Wife are unified by girls and women who cross this threshold seeking liberation from family responsibilities, from societal expectations, from their own minds. A girl born with feathers undertakes a quest for the mother who abandoned her. An indecisive woman drinks Foresight, only to become stymied by the futures branching before her. A proofreader cultivates a cage-fighting alter ego. A woman becomes psychologically trapped in her car. A girl acts on her desire for a childhood friend as a monster draws closer to the shore. A widow invites a bear to hibernate in her den . . . Animal Wife was selected as the winner of the Red Hen Fiction Award by New York Times– bestselling author Ann Hood, who says, “From the first sentence Animal Wife grabbed me and never let go. Sensual and intelligent, with gorgeous prose, it made me dizzy with its exploration and illumination of the inner and outer lives of girls and women.” Praise for Animal Wife “Whimsy and fantasy meet the way things really turn out in stories from a strong new voice.” —Kirkus Reviews “Strange, funny, fearsome, Animal Wife is a gorgeous book, weird in its very bones.” —Elizabeth McCracken, author of Bowlaway: A Novel “Lara Ehrlich has written a collection of stories that allow for escapism.” —F(r)iction “I was particularly intrigued by the way Lara beautifully portrays the inner struggle between wildness and domesticity, the surreal elements of each story lending a mythical complexity to these conflicts. Really lovely and thought-provoking. Perfect for fans of Aimee Bender, Karen Russell, and Angela Carter.” —Joy Baglio, founder of Pioneer Valley Writer’s Workshop