Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25126
contributors Guest Editor JAMES STURZ first learned to dive 14 years ago in the cold vichys- soise waters of upstate New York. Now he travels the world's seas as a dive mas- ter and writer. In this issue, James takes a close look at the world's top dive des- tinations (Under the Blue Sea, page 46) and brings us a report from the reef's edge. James has written about ice diving, shark diving, wreck diving and treasure diving for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times travel section and POV. He is author of the forthcoming novel Sasso (Random House UK) and at work on a second novel, set entirely underwater. When not diving and writing about it, James is happy to adventure across land, and his travel articles have also appeared in Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Detour and the International Herald Tribune. Meet blue's on-the-road, renegade gear tester SIMON FRIEDMAN. Only slight- ly more in control of his drifting than plankton, Simon is a true modern-day nomad. His seasonal work as a wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service takes him to parts of America's wildernesses that people rarely get to see. When not grubbing in the dirt, Simon spends his time wandering the country, surfing, climbing, moun- tain biking, practicing jujitsu, repairing things and experimenting with gear as he goes. Rarely satisfied with mass-produced items, Simon is known for making back- packs, harnesses, surf racks with his own self-taught hand (Gear_bluefeet, page 78). With the attitude that "the whole world is out there so let's go get it," Simon is more apt to find his own path, taking his gear with him, than take the overtrodden sidewalk. "The dirt," says MARTY BASCH when asked to identify the highlight of the 2,468-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route across the US, from the Canadian to the Mexican borders (How Much Do You Love Your Bike?, page 30). "Riding the Great Divide is a great way to combine mountain biking and touring in one long ride." Marty has also pedaled from Maine to Alaska and spent a summer biking within the Arctic Circle. An award-winning writer, he has authored five books, including Against the Wind and Above the Circle. Marty rides (snowboards, too) and writes in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Writer NEI~ SIMON draws heavily on his experience of life in nature, whether that experience is scuba diving the Red Sea, surfing Montauk, rock climbing the Gunks or working as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. In this issue, Neil explores the depths u; the sea (Blue ViSion, page 58). Neil dedicates his article to the memory of his brother, Alain Nahmias, an obsessive deep diver who lived life on the edge. Alain died in 1996 at a time when his obsession had all but consumed him. "There were some truly daredevil dives going on back then," says Neil. "But Alain died surrounded by the thing he loved most: the sea."