People Of Inlfuence

Walter Cronkite

Senator Patrick Leahy

While sailing his boat “Wyntie” over from St. John, Walter Cronkite and his wife Mary, hit a reef. I was called out to repair the damage to the keel. Since my underwater patching compound takes 24 hours to fully cure, I got to go out and spend three separate days on board. They were gentle, smart and witty.
Everything he says blew me away. I’m in the cockpit and he says “Tony, just last week Bill was sitting where you’re sitting.” He’s referring to Bill Clinton. My wife Kate comes out on the last day to take a lady friend of theirs with special needs snorkeling while I finish the last application of compound. They are to begin sailing back to Martha’s Vineyard the next day.
We stay for dinner. I ask him what it was like to announce to the world small stuff like; the death of John F. Kennedy, Armstrong’s arrival on the Moon (he announced the entire Apollo 11 lunar mission) and his views on Vietnam. His last story with me was about his recent celebration of their 65th wedding anniversary. I asked him where and what did they do. He says “We stayed in the Lincoln Room”. Then he leans across the table and shakes his friendly, smiling, cheek flapping face and says “and I didn’t have to pay for it!”
A few years later I noticed that CBS called him back in to calm the nation after the 9/11 attacks. No one today could say that is was fake news. He was “the most trusted man in America.” “And that’s the way it is.”

Senator Patrick Leahy

(D) Vermont I’m informed by Roger from Guana Island Resort that Kate and I have been vetted and he has received approval to bring Senator Patrick Leahy and his wife Marcelle to the dive center. They have both long been avid divers. I remember one of Patrick’s favorite reasons he enjoyed diving with me was that “He doesn’t see those people with the little white wire in their ears.’” Patrick and Tom Daschle had murder attempts when Anthrax was found in letters sent to their offices in the months after the 9/11 attacks. For three days in April for ten years Patrick, Marcelle, and often times our extended families, would go out on my dive boats.
In 2009 I have dive boat “Reef Chief” on a mooring at “The Mary L” dive site when Patrick says he has to take this call. Marcelle and I go quiet. All I can hear is “yes sir, I understand, yes sir, will do, goodbye.” Patrick then says he has to make a call before we get in. Standing with his wet suit around his waist he calls Andrea Philips in Underhill Vermont. He says “I have just spoken with the White House .From the highest levels everything is being done. I am out of the country but you have direct access to my office. I will keep you informed.” Let’s go diving!
Marcelle and Kate convince Patrick and I (ok they tell us) we’re going to church for Easter Sunday. After service at “Mary Star of The Sea” in East End on Tortola, we go up to the Tamarind Club for brunch. We are all aware that this area has no cellular service; none of us consider it important. Sitting behind Patrick in the Van leaving the club I get service and call my brother who is a commander in the US Navy. Patrick’s phone rings at the same time and suddenly he’s pumping his fists in the air yelling “yes, yes we got him!” He turns around and says to me “Tony, three in body bags, one captive and we got Richard!” For no better reason than I could, I hand him my phone. He tells my brother Jeremy “you guys did a great job!” He is so happy it’s contagious. We soon arrive at UBS Dive Center. As we get out of the van Patrick gets a hold of Andrea Phillips in Underhill. He says “were dancing in the parking lot!” At the time I had no idea that Andrea would be recounting Patrick’s words for the world media, later a movie. Tom Hanks is another story of mine.

Steven Spielberg

Senator Patrick Leahy

Steven Spielberg

I’m visiting my friend Matt on Jost Van Dyke; He’s working at a bar & restaurant on the beach in Great Harbor called Happy Larry’s. While sitting with him inside he nods his head over to the outside porch. “You see that guy over there? I hear that’s Steven Spielberg.” My first thoughts are to go tell Steve “thanks for destroying the dive and water sports industries”. Scuba diving certifications had been increasing every year until jaws came out 1977. After that everyone was afraid to get in the water!
We slowly started getting some numbers back again but a couple years later this guy produces Jaws Two. So I get up and walk over there with a little anger building inside, I say to myself, here is my opportunity. I look at him and say “Uh… excuse me but you look just like Steven Spielberg.” He smiles and looks at me and says “a lot of people tell me that.” I reach out my hand and say “Tony” His smile widens as he holds out his hand, “Stephen, nice to meet you Tony.” We talked for a few moments, he just finished filming Schindler’s List, but I never had the guts to say anything about his Jaws films inadvertent adverse affects on the marine industry. I’m glad that I did not.
In later years Stephen has been out spoken of the Shark Finning industry and people’s miss-belief’s about sharks. Stephen understands that sharks are extremely vital to the ecological balance of the oceans.

Mel Gibson

Alex Lifeson

Steven Spielberg

Mel Gibson, his wife and five of his kids rented Little Thatch Island. My friend, Kevin Humphrey’s, is the manager and accordingly calls me to take them diving. Since none of them are certified divers I set up dive boat “Reef Dancer” stern too, to a remote shoreline at the Bite at Norman Island. Kevin delivers them up in Little Thatch’s very impressive Hurricane RIB.
It is soon obvious that the 12 year old, Milo, is the instigator for this excursion. After the classroom and shallow water training I take them to “Rainbow Canyons” at Pelican Island. Although Milo comes up to my shoulder, I give him a big boy 80 cubic tank. He is so excited to see the Garden Eels and then touch a Southern Stingray all in a sand patch. From a purple tube sponge I gather a tiny Gobi fish and fascinate everyone by putting it in my mask for a swim.
After the dives Mel asks Milo what the Pirate movie was rated. Answer RRRRRRRRRRRR. I offer Mel a beer which he declines. I also ask Mel to give me an testimonial for my web site. He says “If you're gonna go down, go done with Tony” Then he says “you probably shouldn’t use that.” I just did. My friend, Jerry Beaty, the editor from Dive Training magazine, tried to get a picture from me of Mel diving for the back page. I never took one.

Alex Lifeson

I started playing the guitar in middle school and, as all players do, I idolized the great ones. So when I’m sitting at the Peg Leg bar in Nanny Cay Marina and a friend taps my shoulder and says ”Tony, meet the guitarist from RUSH.” I literally fell off my stool.
My giddy dumb mind could only say “show me some ID” My brothers Andy, and especially Jeremy, love this Canadian band. For the next few hours I felt like a kid in a candy store, unbelievable, I managed to send people for cameras. I couldn’t stop looking at his left hand. I even held it and said “it all came from here?” unbelievable.
Due to tragedies in drummer Neil Peart’s life he had not recorded anything for a long time. A couple years later while driving thru San Francisco; I heard a song from “Vapor Trails” on the radio. My wife couldn’t understand why I was so happy. Now if I can only find Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. As it is Eric has a home a couple hundred miles from the BVI on Antigua. I have spotted his M/Y "Blue Guitar" here many times, I'm still waiting for the call.

Jimmy Buffet

Alex Lifeson

I’m coming back into the docks at UBS Dive Center when my friends on board their boat called “Changes in Latitude” hail me up. I drive close and they say “look who’s here! Its jimmy!” I give a salute and a “hey mon” and then continue in.
When I get into the dive center I report that Jimmy Buffet is on Reed and Aggie’s boat. Kate looks out and says “yea he was just here looking around, I thought he was a thief so I watched to see if he was going to take something from the wall.” I start laughing and explain that it’s the famous artist and musician known for his poetic Caribbean songs. She says “oh, Jimmy the Buffet” After 20 years I never actually understood all of the words coming out of her mouth. SOOOO cute. That’s Kate showing the British Mancunian way of saying things.
I ask her if she talked to him. “Yea” she says “he asked me where he could get a cheeseburger; I told him upstairs at the restaurant.” Then I told him “oops, sorry it’s Tuesday, they are closed on Tuesdays.” Jimmy said “the islands.” Reed later says that Jimmy was dinging out to his big blue converted fishing trawler and saw the name of their boat. Jimmy said “I wrote a song called that!” So he accepted their invitation to come aboard for a drink. Jimmy was right, only in the islands.