Ancient History
Nyad and her PR surrogates want us to think she hasn’t lied for decades:
“It makes me really sad that we are scrutinizing things that happened 30 years ago.”
— Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, NYAD co-director, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug 2023
“‘She said some untrue things 40 years ago.'”
— Evan Morrison, Marathon Swimmers Federation co-founder, via Facebook (archived)
“Some of those statements are 45 years old — there wasn’t even an internet then. . . . To me, it’s ancient history.”
— Diana Nyad, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug 2023
Make that 48; here’s what Diana said almost half a century ago:
“It’s true I used to lie. . . . Only to impress myself. I would tell a cab driver a lie — anybody. I don’t have to do that anymore.”
— Diana Nyad, Village Voice, 1976
But she does. Below are some of the lies she told last month.
Fake That Money Maker
In a December 22 interview with entrepreneur Nely Galán, Diana demonstrated how lies can imitate art.
She told Galán:
I had all those years, 30 years, from age 30 to 60, traipsing around the world to the Tour de France, to the US National Tennis Championships, the great sporting events of the world, following the greatest athletes in the world. (21:26)
In the Nyad biopic, Diana (Annette Bening) brags to a potential date that
30 years with ABC Sports has taken me all over the world. (~6:25)
In fact, Nyad lasted less than 10 years at ABC. She started at the network in 1980. But by 1987 — after she had “worked out a free-lance arrangement with ABC,” which is presumably Nyad-speak for “they let me go” or “my assignments dried up to almost nothing” — she’d begun plying her trade elsewhere. Some examples:
Nyad was mostly doing radio by the 2000s. In her 2015 memoir, Find a Way, she says that The Score, her sports commentary spot that debuted on NPR affiliate KCRW in 2004, was her most fulfilling broadcast job. And she says it lasted 22 years (p. 100). If that were true, she’d finish in 2026. Meanwhile, KCRW aired The Score’s final episode in 2011.
My Pal Chris
Nyad drops a lot of names. In the Galán interview, she loses her grip on Christopher Reeve, the name she drops more than any other.
My mom dying, and then making friends with Christopher Reeve… That’s when I started rummaging around my office, and I found the Mary Oliver poem, “Tell me what you’re doing with this one wild and precious life of yours.”*
So those three things happened all at once. (21:51)
turtle
No, they didn’t. Nyad’s mom died in 2007, and Reeve passed away in 2004. Moreover, Nyad and Reeve weren’t friends, though Diana often says they were. In an interview earlier last year, Nyad implies that someone told her to stop saying that:
Chris Reeve — I was not a close, close friend with Christopher Reeve. But we had come across each other a few times at a couple of events. (“Game Changers with Molly Fletcher,” Jul 20, 2023, 11:30)
However, by the time she spoke with Galán, Nyad and Reeve were pals again.
Another twist: In an interview 12 years after Reeve’s death, Nyad said, “I became friends with Christopher Reeve, who is now a quadriplegic” (Midweek, BBC, 6 Jul 2016, 10:52). You have to wonder if she ever said a word to him.
Mrs. Mallard’s Epic Journey
Galán asks Nyad if she’s brewing up any epic new pursuits. Nyad answers:
I’ve never written a children’s book [see image on right — Ed.], and I’m just writing my first one now. You wouldn’t call that epic.
(Huh? What about Maurice Sendak, Margaret Wise Brown, Jane Yolen, Dr. Seuss, etc.?)
But just as I was always saying on the beach and elsewhere, “You’re never too old to chase your dreams,” the name of this book is You’re Never Too Young To Chase Your Dreams. (34:42)
By saying that writing a children’s book isn’t epic, maybe Nyad’s taking a shot at humility. She acknowledges that You’re Never Too Young To Chase Your Dreams won’t be the next Captain Underpants, Hoboken Chicken Emergency, or Make Way For Ducklings.
Annette Bening Will Receive Belated Telluride Honor — Just In Time For the Golden Globes
The Nyad biopic had its world premiere in September at the Telluride Film Festival. Bening was set to receive the festival’s Golden Medallion for her contribution to cinema, but the actor’s strike kept her away from the event.
Soon, however, all will be made right. The Hollywood Reporter recently announced that Bening, Golden Globe Best Actress nominee for her portrayal of Nyad, will receive her belated Telluride honor in Hollywood on January 6.
The next day, the Golden Globes will announce its winners down the street (for all practical purposes) in Beverly Hills.
I asked a source familiar with the festival if, by announcing the presentation in December and then conducting it the day before the Globes, the NYAD promotional machine intended to boost Bening’s chances for a Golden Globe win, which would presumably increase her chances for an Oscar.
“100% think that’s why this is happening,” he responded. “This is unprecedented in the fest’s history.”
To bolster the Oscar quest, The NYAD PR team continues to flog the film out of proportion to its chances. See, for instance, these items from an awards season advertising supplement to the Los Angeles Times:
- “‘Nyad’ screenwriter Julia Cox creates a distinct character, ‘rough edges and all.’”
- “‘I was terrified, to tell you the truth’: How Annette Bening became a swimmer for ‘Nyad.”
Both interviews demonstrate how those involved with the biopic, including the media outlets publicizing it, have become unknowing shills for the greatest charlatan in the history of marathon swimming.
In Which We Hear From Diana
Nyad rarely responds to skeptics. But every now and then she can’t stop herself.
In a December 18 Facebook post, she touted her nephew’s re-released 2013 documentary, The Other Shore: The Diana Nyad Story. As usual, most responses came from her devotees. But one commenter questioned Diana’s feats. Nyad responded with a spectacular display of bullshit:
A few notes on Nyad’s reply:
- Everyone on her 40-person crew wasn’t next to her observing. She had five boats. Only her guide boat, Voyager, remained close the entire crossing. She appointed two specific people to observe, neither of whom had experience or training.
- Nyad ignores the real issue about her Manhattan swim, i.e., her claim that she was the first woman to complete it.
- You can’t be “in pursuit of defaming” someone. You either defame them, or you don’t. And if the ostensible defamer sticks to facts, it’s not defamation. Nyad must have meant to say “in pursuit of exposing me.”
Finally, about that lone stalker: If I were a compulsive liar and con artist, I would also equate “exposing the truth” with “stalking.”