was previewed at the 2012 Sundance film festival.
This amazing movie covers the history of mermaids—from
the ancient Greeks’ sirens to Ariel of
The Little Mermaid
—
and captures a woman adorned in a mermaid tale swimming
in the waters off Long Island. But Rockefeller’s mission is
not just to educate us about mermaids. The beautiful crea-
tures only reinforce the film’s plea that we save the seas. In
addition to exploring mermaid lore, Rockefeller documents
scary facts about pollution and overfishing and offers sug-
gestions about how to help fight these threats, from using
reusable bags to buying sustainable seafood. She also has a
jewelry line and gives a portion of the proceeds to Oceana,
a marine protection organization. Visit the website
www.
missionofmermaids.com
to find out where the film is showing
and what you can do to help!
Among the Mermaids
222
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
The fourth in the series of
Pirates of the Caribbean
movies,
On Stranger Tides
sends Captain Jack Sparrow on a quest
for the Fountain of Youth. He forms an unlikely partnership
with the evil Captain Blackbeard and together they encoun-
ter sinister, legendary mermaids who just might hold the key
to possessing eternal life.
The Tail End of This Book
223
Peter Pan (Disney animated)
In Neverland, we don’t have to grow up! Captain Hook flees
from a giant crocodile and beautiful mermaids compete jeal-
ously for Peter Pan’s attention. A classic!
Hook
Peter Pan returns to Neverland as an adult to rescue his chil-
dren from the vengeful Captain James Hook. Naturally the
lovely, exotic mermaids cause mayhem.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
For the second task in the Triwizard Thournament, Harry
Potter and the other champions must recover loved ones
from the mer-people who reside at the bottom of the eerie
black lake at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Thirteenth Year
This made-for-TV movie features a young Cody Griffin,
who discovers when he turns thirteen that his affinity for
the swim team might be more than just a hobby. He’s born
of a mermaid!
Among the Mermaids
224
Shopping
For the mermaid enthusiasts looking to spice up their land-
lives, I’ve collected a few of my favorite places to shop.
Mermaid Cove
An all-mermaid store! This is your one-stop shop for mer
-
maid attire, accessories, art, and necessities—all things mer!
www.mermaidcoveonline.com
Looking for a tail?
High quality, beautiful, custom-made tails can be found at
themertailor.com
—they run from about $170 to $2,500 and
are made from spandex and latex rubber. Whether you want
to look like a mermaid or swim like one, there is a tail for you
among this collection.
Or try
Aquatails.com
—they make tails in a variety of col
-
ors and styles and ship anywhere in the world (from about
$60 to $500). Aquatails offers anything from a “dry” costume
to a functioning monofin, as well as tops and accessories.
For a more affordable option, check out
mermagica.com
with basic adult tails running about $120.
The Tail End of This Book
225
Wanna dress your baby like a mermaid?
Great items like hand-crocheted, baby-soft tails for your
little moon.
www.etsy.com/shop/AlishaMayCreations
Mermaid Jewelry
Buy incredible jewelry at Kim Gough’s
www.mermaid
seaglass.com.
Susan Rockefeller sells mermaid-inspired jewelry at
www.susanrockefeller.com
—and a portion of each sale goes to
Oceana, a marine protection organization.
Mermaid Art
Robert Walker has some beautiful mermaid art, very en-
chanting and just creepy enough.
www.rw2gallery.com
Among the Mermaids
226
Recommended Reading
Short Story Collections
The following is a list of the original publications in which
some of the stories in this book first appeared. It’s well worth
reading the full collections as well as other works by the au-
thors!
“The Mermaid” by G.A. Birmingham originally appeared
in
Our Casualty and Other Stories.
New York: Doran,
1918.
“Lutey and the Mermaid” originally published in
Cornwall’s
Wonderland
by Mable Quiller-Couch, 1914.
“Flory Cantillon’s Funeral” and “The Soul Cages”
by T.
Crofton Croker and
“
The Merrow”
by William Butler
Yeats originally appeared in
Fairy and Folk Tales of Irish
Peasantry
. Ed. W.B. Yeats. New York: Thomas Whit-
taker, 1888.
“Amongst the Mermaids” and “The Selkie That Deud No’
Forget” by Norman Roe were published by Aleister
Crowley in his magical journal
The Equinox, Volume I,
Number II.
London: 1909.
The Tail End of This Book
227
“The Mermaid of Lighthouse Point”
by Bret Harte origi-
nally appeared in
Under the Redwoods
. Boston: Hough-
ton, Mifflin Harcourt, 1901.
“The Mermaid of Zennor” excerpted from
Legend Land,
Volume On
e. London: The Great Western Railway,
1922.
“The Mermaid of Druid Lake” originally appeared in
The
Mermaid of Druid Lake and Other Stories
by Charles
Weathers Bump
.
Baltimore, MD: Nunn & Company,
1906.
“The Mermaid’s Prophecy”
by Anonymous originally
appeared in
The Mermaid’s Prophecy and Other Songs
Relating to Queen Dagmar.
London: 1913.
“Among the Merrows: A Sketch of a Great Aquarium”
originally appeared in
Aunt Judy’s Annual Volume
by
Juliana Horatia Ewing. London: George Bell and Sons,
1873.
Among the Mermaids
228
Novels About Mermaids
My friend and publicist Kat Salazar, who blogs at
Katloves
books.blogspot.com
, supplied me with this amazing recom-
mended reading list of fun, fictional mermaid reads.
A Mermaid’s Kiss
(Daughters of Arianne, #1)
by Joey W. Hill
Aquamarine
(Water Tales, #1)
by Alice Hoffman
Ascension
(Wate
r, #1)
by Kara Dalkey
Between the Sea and Sky
by Jaclyn Dolamore
Call of the Sea
by Rebecca Hart
Deep Wizardry
(Young Wizards, #2)
by Diane Duane
Forgive My Fins
(Fins, #1)
by Tera Lynn Childs
Fortune’s Fool
(Five Hundred Kingdoms, #3)
by Mercedes Lackey
The Tail End of This Book
229
Goddess of the Sea
(Goddess Summoning, #1)
by P.C. Cast
Hannah
(Daughters of the Sea, #1)
by Kathryn Lasky
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(Harry Potter, #4)
by J.K. Rowling
Ingo
(Ingo, #1)
by Helen Dunmore
Kraken
by China Miéville
Lies Beneath
(Lies Beneath, #1)
by Anne Greenwood Brown
Lost Voices
(Lost Voices, #1)
by Sarah Porter
Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
by Carolyn Turgeon
Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of “The Little Mermaid”
by Debbie Viguié
Monstrous Beauty
by Elizabeth Fama
Among the Mermaids
230
Nymph
by Francesca Lia Block
Of Poseidon
(Of Poseidon, #1)
by Anna Banks
Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie
Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings
(Real Mermaids, #1)
by Helene Boudreau
Ripple
by Mandy Hubbard
Sea Change
by Aimee Friedman
Sea Witch
(Children of the Sea, #1)
by Virginia Kantra
Seven Tears Into the Sea
by Terri Farley
Siren
(Siren, #1)
by Tricia Rayburn
Sirena
by Donna Jo Napoli
The Tail End of This Book
231
Sleeping with the Fishes
(Fred the Mermaid, #1)
by Mary Janice Davidson
Tempest Rising
(Tempest, #1)
by Tracy Deebs
The Changeling Sea
by Patricia A. McKillip
The Forbidden Sea
by Sheila A. Nielson
The Little Mermaid
by Hans Christian Andersen
The Mermaid’s Mirror
by L.K. Madigan
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
The Sea Fairies
by L. Frank Baum
The Selkie
by Rosanna Leo
The Tail of Emily Windsnap
(Emily Windsnap, #1)
by Liz Kessler
Among the Mermaids
232
The Undrowned Child
(The Undrowned Child, #1)
by Michelle Lovric
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
(Chronicles of Narnia, #5)
by C.S. Lewis
Wake
(Watersong, #1)
by Amanda Hocking
Waking Storms
(Lost Voices, #2)
by Sarah Porter
Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits
by Robin McKinley
233
Berk, Ari.
The Secret History of Mermaids and Creatures of
the Deep
. Candlewick Press: Sommerville, MA, 2009.
Dussart, Georges and David Ponsonby.
The Anatomy of the
Sea
. Chronicle Books: San Francisco, CA, 2005.
Pepper, Elizabeth and Barbara Stacy.
Magical Creatures.
The Witches’ Almanac: Middletown, RI, 2000.
Ravenhart, Oberon Zell and Ash “LeopardDancer”
DeKirk
. A Wizard’s Bestiary
. New Page: Pompton
Plains, NJ, 2007.
Silvester, Jessica. “Turning the Tide.”
O Magazine.
August
2012.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
ONLINE RESOURCES
Among the Mermaids
234
Ventura, Varla.
The Book of the Bizarre.
Weiser Books: San
Francisco, CA, 2008.
————.
Beyond Bizarre.
Weiser Books: San Francisco,
CA, 2010.
Bibliography and Online Resources
235
Online Resources
atlasobscura.com
beautiful-mermaid-art.com
ezinearticles.com
helium.com
history.navy.mil/trivia
HuffingtonPost.com
inquisitr.com
Livescience.com
mermaid-williambond.blogspot.com
mernetwork.com
orlandosentinel.com
thingsasian.com
Utne.com
who-sucks.com/animals
Wikipedia
237
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful for the many friends, aquatic and otherwise,
who helped this book become a reality. My thanks go to KRP,
for his amazing understanding of cephalopods; Pirate Chris
for always having his sword at the ready; and GemBlade,
who actually
is
a mermaid in human disguise. I’m grate-
ful for Lizzy Lee Savage, whose own mermaid tattoo puts
any sailor’s ink to sham to shame, and to the Vinyl Avenger,
whose late night music kept me going when deadlines were
fast approaching. Thanks to Lia the Sword Dancer, Heinz
the Architect, Abby the Warrior, Stacey "Mermama" and
her daughter Elena, and Maureen O'Dahlia. Undying grati-
tude to Alix Blackberry and her seaweed-haired bunny-love,
Madeleine. A big thanks to my family, especially my nieces
Emma, Ida, Aurora, Corrine, and Sabrina, and nephews
Among the Mermaids
238
Jacob and Phillip, who are forever offering suggestions and
helping me keep my finger on the pulse of today’s monster-
loving, mermaid-fanning youth. And thanks to sweet little
Jillian, who has an uncanny understanding of mermaids and
to sandy-footed Laneia, who knows the best beaches in No.
Cal. To my contributors—Mermaid Mizuko, Kim Gough,
Chrissy Doherty, and Sharon Body—your stories have
given me unique perspective on the underwater world.
Much gratitude to the Red Wheel Weiser Team: Katie
Dalia, Vanessa Ta, Jordan Overby, Kim Ehart, Jan Johnson,
Caroline Pincus, Pat Rose, Greg Brandenburgh, Jim Warner,
Bonni Hamilton, Nicole Deneka, Michael Kerber, Sylvia
Hopkins, Dennis Fitzgerald, Debby Dutton, and my amaz-
ing publicist Kat Salazar. Most of all, thanks to my incredi-
ble editor, Amber Guetebier, without whom this book could
not exist.
TO OUR READERS
Weiser Books, an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser,
publishes books across the entire spectrum of occult, esoteric,
speculative, and New Age subjects. Our mission is to
publish quality books that will make a difference in people’s
lives without advocating any one particular path or field of
study. We value the integrity, originality, and depth of knowl-
edge of our authors.
appreciate your input, suggestions, and ideas about what you
would like to see published.
Visit our website at
www.redwheelweiser.com
to learn
about our upcoming books and free downloads, and be sure
to go to
www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter
to sign up for
newsletters and exclusive offers.
You can also contact us at
[email protected]
or at
Red Wheel/Weiser,
LLC
665 Third Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94107
Plunge into the briny deep and become
entangled in the enchanting world of the
mermaid. From chilly lobster pots t0
mermaid joy rides to real-life mermaids
fighting to keep the oceans clean, this book
will leave you chanting sea shanties, retell-
ing fairy tales, and maybe even shopping
for your very own mermaid’s tail. Hold
your breath and dive in!
Varla Ventura
is the author of
The Book of the Bizarre
and
Beyond Bizarre,
and a lover of all things strange, freaky, and
terrifying. She is the curator of the
Weiser
Magical Creatures
and
Paranormal Parlor
series of e-books. She lives in the seafaring,
fog-soaked city of San Francisco, California,
where—when not hunting ghosts and tracking
vampires—she can be found combing the sand
and cavorting with pirates at Ocean Beach.
Visit her at online at:
Among the Mermaids Page 18
