THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 TAG: 9510030013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 27 lines
When the proposed Jacque Cousteau Center was being talked up several years ago, I was so excited about it. I was raised on his films and books. He's a world citizen, an inventor, a heroic seagoing star. The media had prepared me to enter the wondrous world of Cousteau.
Then Norfolk decided to build its own attraction, which appears to be about cyberwarriors assaulting the sea. That's my impression anyway. I've boycotted the place out of disappointment. Instead, I regularly visit the Mariners' Museum and the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
Whoever made the expensive decision to abandon the Cousteau Center seems to have known nothing of the power of the media, the power of charisma or the new global tourist.
ROBERT WALDROP
Virginia Beach, Sept. 28, 1995 by CNB