Frogmen: The True Story of My Journeys With Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the Crew of Calypso

by Richard Hyman

In his personal account of expeditions with French explorer Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the crew of research vessel Calypso, Richard E. Hyman takes us behind the scenes, inside the ship, and under the sea. In 1973, at the age of eighteen and just out of high school, he drives a truck from Los Angeles, California to the Canadian wilderness of Saskatchewan, Canada, to work with Cree Native Americans and build a cabin for the Cousteau team to winter in and film beavers. Subsequent journeys include diving in Florida's warm springs with manatees and off the panhandle with stone crabs. Months later he flies to Mexico's Yucatán and boards the Research Vessel Calypso, a relatively small and unsteady wooden ship, and camps on an uninhabited island to study lobsters. From there he sails south along the 180-mile Belize Barrier Reef, filming the spawning of thousands of grouper and a visit from singer songwriter John Denver. On his final voyage, en route to Venezuela, he experiences treacherous dives on the USS Monitor shipwreck off North Carolina, and skeletons inside shipwrecks off Martinique, not to mention close encounters with pirates and drug smugglers. FROGMEN is an inspiring true adventure of a young man who pays homage to one of the greatest explorers and visionaries of all time. Cousteau was a three-time Academy Award winner, received 40 Emmy nominations and created 100 television documentaries. He also invented the aqualung, more commonly known as SCUBA. John Denver wrote “Calypso”, a hit that went gold worldwide. Stories about life aboard Calypso with Cousteau, once one of the most recognized names in the world, should interest all age groups and the general public, particularly adventurers, Denver fans, divers, environmentalists, photographers, travel buffs, and videographers.

276 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2011

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Self-publishing allows just about anyone to get into print. In this case, that's a good thing. Richard Hyman's journals combine the celebrity of Captain Cousteau and a few other bold-face names, with the thoughts and dreams of a surprisingly sentient young man. I once worked with Richard Hyman, so, for me personally, the book is worth five stars, because I can relate the young man's journal to the adult I know. I'm only listing it with four stars, because most people won't be able to make that connection.

Suggestion: If you buy the black and white print version of the book, spring for the Kindle version so you can see the photographs in color. (If money is no object, buy the color print version.)

[Deborah aka Reading Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read first six chapters but was pretty bored throughout. A log of a college student’s adventures assisting Cousteau. But really it’s a log of impressions and daily tasks, not a riveting read so stopped after chapter 6.