
Certifications
As a pioneer underwater instructor he holds the following
certifications:
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Honors
He has received the following honors:
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LA Co Outstanding contributions to diving 1963
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LA Co Outstanding Instructor of the year 1969
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NAUI Over the reef gang 1984
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NAUI Diving dinosaur 1986
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SSI Platinum Pro 5000 diver 1993
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Who’s who of SCUBA diving 1993
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International father of spear fishing 2000
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Leader and legend of diving 2005
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Portage
Quarry welcomes and is honored to have Dr. Samuel Miller
as a historical consultant on the board of advisers and
as a contributing writer to the web site. |
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Dr.
Sam Miller
Dr.
Samuel Miller began his long diving career in 1943 as a result to a very
serious eye infection contracted while swimming in a local YMCA pool. In
order to continue swimming he was required to wear a pair of crude
goggles for eye protection. When he had graduated from high school in
1950 he had managed to acquire a Sea Net mask and a pair of Churchill
fins. He was a “goggler” in a sport that had no name, no shops, no
magazines, no training programs, no organizations, no flag, and very few
participants.
Equipped with only a mask, fins and a GI surplus sweater for thermal
protection and using borrowed equipment he made his first “lung” (SCUBA)
dive on Memorial Day 1951 in Divers Cove, Laguna Beach, California.
He was a member and officer or on the board of directors of number of
prestigious Spear fishing, Scuba and Underwater photography diving
clubs. Most recently he was on the founding board of directors and
Director of Recreational Diving for the Historical Diving Society.
In the beginning there were no published recreational diving books As an
avid book collector Dr. Miller amassed what is possibly the most
complete and valuable collection of historical recreational diving
books, periodicals and ephemera in existence. In 1993 he presented the
first US diving bibliophile meeting which was attended by divers from
through out the world.
Dr. Miller appeared on the cover and was the first guest editor of Skin
Diver Magazine. He has authored numerous articles for Skin Diver, Scuba
Pro Diving, Historical Diver, Southwest Diver, Discover Diving, Los
Angeles Underwater News, NAUI News and currently writes a diving column
for a California news paper, the first and only regularly scheduled
diving column to appear in any US news paper.
Retired and in his mid 70s he resides on a hill in Central California
over looking the Pacific Ocean. He divides his time doing historical
diving research, traveling to exotic dive locations, and frequently
visiting and diving in his beloved Baja California.
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