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- Alan Baskin, Renowned Diver, Passes Away
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- Alan Baskin, long-time resident of the British Virgin Islands and founder
of the dive firm, Baskin in the Sun, died in Miami, Florida on October
8 at the age of 70. Funeral services attended by family members and friends
were held in Miami on Friday.
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- A life-long diving enthusiast, Alan's first dive was at the age of
18 off Miami Beach, Florida. In the '50's, he filmed one of the first underwater
movies, called Secrets of the Reef in the Bay Islands off Central America.
A successful manufacturer of baby formula, Alan gave up the corporate world
in 1969 to start a diving firm in Grenada. The first Baskin in the Sun
was started by Alan and his wife Eva in the Dominican Republic in 1974
and later relocated to Haiti, where it was one of that country's earliest
dive business and one of the longest lasting. Following the Haitian revolution
in 1986, the couple brought the firm to the British Virgin Islands, basing
the operation at Prospect Reef and later setting up a second office at
Soper's Hole Marina in West End.
- Soon after arriving in the B.V.I., Alan became president of the Dive
Operator's Association and was instrumental in the establishment of the
National Parks Trust Moorings System, a unique system which placed moorings
into the sea bed with minimal environmental impact. The monumental effort
involved people from throughout the dive industry and the community and
is credited with greatly reducing damage to the local reefs from anchoring
boats.
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- His efforts won Alan awards from the Caribbean Conservation Association,
the BVI Hotel and Commerce Association; he was also named Rotary Man of
the Year. The couple sold Basking in the Sun in 1993, retiring to their
home in Little Bay on Tortola's East End, where Alan continued to be involved
in community activities, including the National Parks Trust and the H.L.
Stoutt Community College's Classics in the Atrium Series. One of his last
accomplishments was setting up an endowment for the B.V.I. National Parks
Trust. Further information on the fund can be found at its website: www.bvinationalparkstrust.org/alanbaskin
- Alan always lived life to the fullest, even at the end. Diagnosed with
cancer in July of this year, he made his passing a celebration of life.
Friends set up a web site that became known as a "Living Eulogy".
People from around the world, friends, relatives and complete strangers
contributed to the site, www.alanbaskin.net.
Among those posting messages were CBS anchor man Walter Cronkite, a frequent
visitor to the B.V.I., and author George Plimpton. His daughter Roberta,
a CBS News Correspondent, produced a piece on the website for CBS Morning
News in late September. Features on the web site were also written up in
USA Today and the Miami Herald.
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- Alan had five children; in addition to Roberta, he is survived by two
sons, Michael and Christopher and daughters Lisa and Robin, as well as
a sister Bonnie Liberman.
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- "He believed in living life to his fullest," said his wife
Eva. "and considered knowing that he was going to die so much in advance
a privilege. It gave him a chance to tie up loose ends and say good-by
to family and friends from all over the world who came to visit during
this period."
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- A memorial service for Alan Baskin will be held in Tortola in the spring.
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- - Claudia Colli
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