Author Talk with Les Fields

Tuesday, May 14th 2019

5:00 pm-6:00 pm

Les Fields is a retired South Pacific underwater photographer, diving operator, and resort owner. As founder of Aqua Trek Diving, his career was principally based in Fiji and focused on the company's specialty of shark diving.

Join him to talk about his book Derek Dell, Flash Before Your Eyes.

Derek and Juliet Dell live in French Polynesia. Derek, now retired, owned an underwater photography and scuba diving business in the South Pacific for decades.

The family arrives to celebrate Christmas and Derek teaches them the basics of diving. While hunting lobster for a beach barbecue, Derek's dive goes spectacularly wrong. He finds himself alone at the bottom of the sea.

As he lay motionless and drowning, Derek's life begins to flash before his eyes. He recalls his experience with shark wrangling and other pioneer diving in the early South Pacific. Derek dives to the South Pacific's highest adventures while working to keep its secrets. Clandestine activities born of post-Cold War fears.

Derek must face the difficulties of this work and balance his family life as a single parent to a loving daughter. In these final moments what does he think? How can there be a happy ending?