Peter J. Maerz
Tucked away in a cozy apartment located in Hollywood, Florida, lives Peter Maerz. Maerz lives with his wife Alyssa and their beloved cat the “The Woobie.” To the common passerby, he might seem like an ordinary man, but in fact, this world traveler, local NPR personality and scuba diver, proves the adage: “There’s more to him than meets the eye.”
Maerz works at WLRN, South Florida’s local NPR station as Director of Radio Operations. His voice will pop on the local news feed, announcing events, ads, or just to say hello. He loves his work, and found love through it in a most harrowing and spectacular way.
In Palm Beach, out on his fourth scuba excursion of the day, Maerz was too tired and needed to surface for air. He split off from the diving group and surfaced to take a break on the boat.
According to Maerz, this would be fine if the “bubble watcher” (the man who stands on deck to watch for premature surfaces) was doing his job, or if they had done a head count before leaving for home. The boat continued to follow the diver flag, by proxy the diving group.
The dive boat stranded him in the middle of the ocean, far away from shore. He tried to swim to shore against the current, and so he dropped all his heavy equipment, including an underwater camera, which cost several thousand dollars.
Hours later, the boat came back after noticing he was missing, and found hum. After coming to grips with his near-death experience, he told the dive boat company that he didn’t want to sue; he just wanted his camera replaced. They had the gall to disagree, claiming it was all his fault for straying from the group. Fortunately, another boat did find the camera still working, and returned it to him a few months later.
This horrifying experience led him to tell his friend, a producer for the radio show, The Story. Little did he know, one of the listeners would soon become his wife.
Alyssa, who was listening in on the radio program, decided to email him due to of how intrigued she was. His near-death experience turned into his everlasting love.
Maerz, who has so many talents that there are too many to include, such as how he plays drummer for a Beatles cover band, and how he travels the world. His life is overflowing with stories and wonders most of us can only dream about. So, the next time you are listening to NPR and happen to hear Peter, you can say, “I know that guy!”. He’ll sound like an ordinary guy; but you’ll know better. Oh, forgot to mention, when asking of his favorite color he said “my favorite color… It’s purple because for some reason it just has its own special way of intriguing me.”