Back when I started SCUBA diving in the 1960s, the activity was dominated by men and boys and much more macho than today. I can't even remember if there were any women in my certification class... and being new to California, I think I would have noticed. My instructor was the legendary Ron Merker who co-owned the Aquatic Center in Newport Beach. I just discovered that Clive Cussler worked in that shop the year before I arrived.
While the sport was largely dominated by men in those early years, there were a number of ladies who were pioneers as well. I've been privileged to know several of them including 19 members of the Women Diver's Hall of Fame such as Catalina's own Lorraine Sadler. Two really stick out in my mind due to a personal history with them. One is "Her Deepness," Dr. Sylvia Earle, who was at Harvard when I was an undergraduate. She and I were staff on early Cousteau programs back in the 1970s and she later served as a member of the board at the old Toyon school where I taught marine biology. The other is the incredible Zale Parry who is the subject of this week's column.
I can't remember exactly when I met Zale. I do know it was on one of the "invasions" of our dive park by Santa Barbara instructor Ed Stetson. Ed brings a large group of divers down each spring and Zale is often one of the attendees. Last year when she learned I had cancer, she sent a nice card wishing me well. This year I was on the mainland getting yet another chemo treatment but raced over to the island to see Zale, Ed and other group members including our own Kelly Moore. I drove up to the Bird Park picnic grounds and met up with Kelly and Zale at the Saturday night barbecue.
Now those of my readers who are landlubbers may ask "Who is Zale Parry?" Many things... competitive swimmer, water ballet enthusiast, diver, swim and SCUBA instructor, photographer, gear tester, actress, author, cover girl, etc. Zale grew up on a lake in Wisconsin and learned to swim and free dive very early. She moved to SoCal in the early 1950s and worked for Douglas Aircraft where she met her husband, engineer Parry Bivens. She took up SCUBA diving in 1951 to be with him. A 1955 article in Sports Illustrated said that their first dates were diving under the waters off Catalina for lobster and abalone. I no longer dive for bugs but would love a dive date with a lady-go-diver.
Zale has a long-time connection with Catalina Island. In 1954 she set the women's deep diving record, hitting bottom at 209 fsw off Avalon. That dive was done to test the Hope-Page non-return valve rather than to set a record... but it did! My friend and Catalina legend Cap Perkins was one of her safety divers that day. Along with Parry Bivens he also set the men's record at 350 fsw that year. Zale and Parry would also dive for coins tossed into the water by passengers on the SS Catalina.
That same year Zale became the third woman SCUBA instructor certified through the Los Angeles County UICC program. She and Parry designed the first hyperbaric chamber for civilian use and ran the first chamber here in SoCal. They used the chamber to test dive equipment through their company Scientific Underwater Research Enterprises. Zale and Parry were strong advocates for the deployment of such chambers throughout the world to better ensure divers could recover from the bends.
A year later Zale graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's May 23, 1955, the first of their swimsuit issues. This was in the days when woman of unusual accomplishment were selected rather than just run way models (although Zale certainly was a looker). It took both beauty and brains to make that cover and Zale possessed both. With Al Tillman she wrote and published Scuba America, a book about the history of diving.
DEMA presented her with the Reaching Out Award which is extremely prestigious as only a select few receive it including astronaut Scott Carpenter and shark biologist Dr. Eugenie Clark. The SCUBA certification agency NAUI awarded her the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, another high honor. In addition to being a member of the Women Diver's Hall of Fame she was also inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.
As an actress, Zale first starred in the film "Kingdom of the Sea." That role led to her being cast in a new TV series some of you may remember... "Sea Hunt." Zale assisted in training star Lloyd Bridges to dive. She served as a stunt double and actress in several episodes of the show. Later she went on to act in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and episodes of "GE Theatre," "Wagon Train," "Peter Gunn" and other shows and commercials.
Zale also received the 2016 California Scuba Service Award, which I received several years earlier. The sequence should certainly have been reversed! I'm proud to be in Zale's company on that. On her recent visit I did ask her why I'd never been nominated for the Women Divers Hall of Fame. She laughed and said maybe I could become a male associate like legend Stan Waterman.
© 2018 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 750 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Ed Stetson, Zale and the good doctor on a previous visit; Zale and Doc recently; Zale in Jon Council's diving history museum and Zale reuniting with her safety diver Cap Perkins several years ago.
While the sport was largely dominated by men in those early years, there were a number of ladies who were pioneers as well. I've been privileged to know several of them including 19 members of the Women Diver's Hall of Fame such as Catalina's own Lorraine Sadler. Two really stick out in my mind due to a personal history with them. One is "Her Deepness," Dr. Sylvia Earle, who was at Harvard when I was an undergraduate. She and I were staff on early Cousteau programs back in the 1970s and she later served as a member of the board at the old Toyon school where I taught marine biology. The other is the incredible Zale Parry who is the subject of this week's column.
I can't remember exactly when I met Zale. I do know it was on one of the "invasions" of our dive park by Santa Barbara instructor Ed Stetson. Ed brings a large group of divers down each spring and Zale is often one of the attendees. Last year when she learned I had cancer, she sent a nice card wishing me well. This year I was on the mainland getting yet another chemo treatment but raced over to the island to see Zale, Ed and other group members including our own Kelly Moore. I drove up to the Bird Park picnic grounds and met up with Kelly and Zale at the Saturday night barbecue.
Now those of my readers who are landlubbers may ask "Who is Zale Parry?" Many things... competitive swimmer, water ballet enthusiast, diver, swim and SCUBA instructor, photographer, gear tester, actress, author, cover girl, etc. Zale grew up on a lake in Wisconsin and learned to swim and free dive very early. She moved to SoCal in the early 1950s and worked for Douglas Aircraft where she met her husband, engineer Parry Bivens. She took up SCUBA diving in 1951 to be with him. A 1955 article in Sports Illustrated said that their first dates were diving under the waters off Catalina for lobster and abalone. I no longer dive for bugs but would love a dive date with a lady-go-diver.
Zale has a long-time connection with Catalina Island. In 1954 she set the women's deep diving record, hitting bottom at 209 fsw off Avalon. That dive was done to test the Hope-Page non-return valve rather than to set a record... but it did! My friend and Catalina legend Cap Perkins was one of her safety divers that day. Along with Parry Bivens he also set the men's record at 350 fsw that year. Zale and Parry would also dive for coins tossed into the water by passengers on the SS Catalina.
That same year Zale became the third woman SCUBA instructor certified through the Los Angeles County UICC program. She and Parry designed the first hyperbaric chamber for civilian use and ran the first chamber here in SoCal. They used the chamber to test dive equipment through their company Scientific Underwater Research Enterprises. Zale and Parry were strong advocates for the deployment of such chambers throughout the world to better ensure divers could recover from the bends.
A year later Zale graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's May 23, 1955, the first of their swimsuit issues. This was in the days when woman of unusual accomplishment were selected rather than just run way models (although Zale certainly was a looker). It took both beauty and brains to make that cover and Zale possessed both. With Al Tillman she wrote and published Scuba America, a book about the history of diving.
DEMA presented her with the Reaching Out Award which is extremely prestigious as only a select few receive it including astronaut Scott Carpenter and shark biologist Dr. Eugenie Clark. The SCUBA certification agency NAUI awarded her the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, another high honor. In addition to being a member of the Women Diver's Hall of Fame she was also inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.
As an actress, Zale first starred in the film "Kingdom of the Sea." That role led to her being cast in a new TV series some of you may remember... "Sea Hunt." Zale assisted in training star Lloyd Bridges to dive. She served as a stunt double and actress in several episodes of the show. Later she went on to act in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and episodes of "GE Theatre," "Wagon Train," "Peter Gunn" and other shows and commercials.
Zale also received the 2016 California Scuba Service Award, which I received several years earlier. The sequence should certainly have been reversed! I'm proud to be in Zale's company on that. On her recent visit I did ask her why I'd never been nominated for the Women Divers Hall of Fame. She laughed and said maybe I could become a male associate like legend Stan Waterman.
© 2018 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 750 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Ed Stetson, Zale and the good doctor on a previous visit; Zale and Doc recently; Zale in Jon Council's diving history museum and Zale reuniting with her safety diver Cap Perkins several years ago.
