Mermaids in the News

So there have been a lot of mermaids in the news of late. Far more, I’m sure, than I will list here, but:

Did you see Matthea Harvey’s new mermaid poem in the NY Times Magazine the other day, with accompanying illustration (left) by Jeff Koons?

Did you see this article in Publisher’s Weekly about Brenda Peterson’s self-publishing mermaid venture (achieved with her pod-mates’ help)? While you’re at it, check out Brenda’s Huffington Post blog; she recently wrote about the U.S. Navy’s acoustic war on the world’s oceans, and today’s post features a conversation between her and yours truly.

I also helpfully provided a list of ten mermaid destinations, including Mermaid Shelly’s Grotto, last week for the Hairpin, where I’ve lovingly and generously written about mermaids before.

And then there’s been a ton of press about both Linden Wolbert and Eric “The Mertailor” Ducharme:

Here’s the Yahoo article on Linden. And the Huffington Post interview with Linden about being a “mermaid to the stars.” Here she is in the NY Daily News.

Photo: Carter’s News Agency

Eric Ducharme just appeared on TLC’s My Crazy Obsession, and there have been about 50000 articles on him since. Here’s a promo for the show:

Here’s the big story from the UK’s Daily Mail, an article from Yahoo , a story on Laughing Squid, and even one on Perez Hilton. I recently asked Eric about all this hoopla now and will post that interview tomorrow, or even tonight if you’re lucky.

There are many more stories that those, and I’m sure there are reporters plotting as we speak, reality show producers scheming, and probably entire film crews down at Weeki Wachee if not your local creek or pool, all of them trying (and most assuredly failing) to figure out the secrets of those glamorous, glittering half-fish we all know and love.