Tuesday evening, shortly after reading about a man nicknamed "Runaway Grandpa" who walks out onto the 100-year-old Seven Mile Bridge every day and then sits in a lawn chair, I watched on TV as Diana Nyad swam onto a beach in Key West, not quite the conquering hero.
I have great admiration for Nyad's endurance, which is phenomenal, especially at her age (now 63), but I think it would be a good idea if she quit trying to swim the Straits of Florida. She traveled with a team of 60, people who could probably find better things to do with their time than follow a woman swimming in the ocean. And Nyad could surely find better ways to spend the money it costs to mount these publicity-rich marathons.
After watching her swim ashore in Key West I found myself hoping that she dried off, changed, and found a stool at Captain Tony's. And that somebody there told her about Runaway Grandpa.
