?The Two-Edged Sword of Publicity

My many discoveries and the resulting international publicity that I have received has given me a very good life, but it has also sparked jealousy and criticism. I won't give their names, but some petty people, most of them bureaucrats and little known academics who have not had the same degree of success, have done their best to defame me and denigrate my work — even though I am a degreed archaeologist, with numerous books and professional papers to my credit. They have used misrepresentations, half truths, and out-right lies to try to smear me, steal credit and, in their minds, make themselves look better. I find it interesting that I get the greatest praise from the most successful people, and the most criticism from the least successful. I won't print the slanders as they are truly without merit, but here is some of the praise. Perhaps their words, along with who they are, will tell you who I really am.

IMPORTANT: If you have had similar experiences with slander, libel, and back-stabbing arising from publicity about your successes, I hope you will take time to comment about them.

The above is a YouTube video prepared for the Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences when I was presented with the 2012-13 NOGI in Science. The NOGI is the oldest and most prestigious award in the diving world.

In the above picture on the cover of my 1974 book, A Look At South Carolina's Underwater Heritage , I am on the deck of my boat listening to one of my divers' (on the dive ladder and not seen here) report on what he has observed on the wreck of the Civil War blockade runner Mary Bowers .

I congratulate you - Captain Jacques Yves Cousteau, director, Institute Océanographique, Monaco

South Carolina is indebted to you for the wonderful contribution you have made to archeology. David M. Beasley, Governor of the State of South Carolina

Let me take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and profound gratitude for your generous and historic donation to the State of your rights to the submarine H.L. Hunley - Charles Molony Condon, Attorney General of the State of South Carolina

In 1989, I released some of my research, later included in my book, Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The real Rhett Butler and Other Revelations , outlining what the editors of Life magazine in later called "overwhelming evidence" that Rhett Butler was largely based on the life of George Alfred Trenholm. It was a discovery that made international news.

But, hell, Rhett Butler is part of all our lives and so, of course, I can enjoy the unveiling. - Norman Mailer, award winning novelist

We are proud of you and your fine talents - Strom Thurmond, United States Senator

... happy to claim 'kin' with you! - Floyd D. Spence, Member of Congress, United States (Note: I later learned he really was my father's cousin)

A major article about me in People magazine in 1987 and my inclusion in a cover story on treasure in Life magazine in 1989, certainly raised my profile, but being oriented towards the general public, instead of the relatively limited world of academia, focused more on the treasures than the history, even though it is history that actually interests me the most when it comes to my shipwreck work.

I applaud what you are about - Thomas Griffith, Editor, Life magazine

Congratulations. You certainly are on the right road. - Mendel Peterson, Director, Underwater Exploration Program, Smithsonian Institution

The artifacts recovered from the blockade runners wrecks sound very interesting, you seem to have hit the jackpot. - William E. Geoghegan, Museum Specialist, Division of Transportation, Smithsonian Institution

Articles in other countries, such as the one above in Germany's Der Standard in 2011, and below in the London Sun in 1989, citing my work and/or describing me as an underwater archaeologist and an expert on shipwrecks have appeared all around the world, making me both friends and enemies.

As a diver, I can visualize the excitement of finding an intact old wreck, and I certainly wish I could see them for myself. - Luis Marden, Chief, Foreign Editorial Staff, National Geographic Magazine

We (the editors) all agree that the amazingly intact cargo of the Georgiana makes it a vessel of special interest. - Andrew H. Brown, Assistant Editor, National Geographic Magazine

I think your activities would make an interesting part of my story, without prejudicing your chances of later having a Geographic story all to yourself. - James Cerruti, Assistant Editor, National Geographic Magazine

This book on "Man's 25 Greatest Quest for El Dorado" used a full page photo of me taken when I was just twenty and had made the New York Times for my discovery of five shipwrecks off South Carolina.

Looking Forward to hearing more about your programs & activities. - Paul J. Tzimoulis, Publisher, Skin Diver magazine

You are to be commended for your initiative - Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus, United States National Park Service

The U.S. News & World Report's cover story in 2007 crediting me with the discovery of the Hunley in 1970, definitely irritated some who believed that their favorite author, fiction writer Clive Cussler, was the first to find it, as he claimed in 1995.

Please accept my congratulations and gratitude for the conveyance of your interest in the H.L. Hunley to the State of South Carolina - Senator Glenn F. McConnell, Chairman, The Hunley Commission

If you have experienced the double-edged sword of publicity, meaning the back-stabbing it brings out in jealous people, and not just the expected benefits, I hope you will take the time to comment.