Shirley Haycock

Back in 1973, Shirley Haycock declared her intention to cross the Atlantic in a 16-foot canoe. Some news reports initially stated that she was 86 years old, which would have made her plan really unusual. She was actually only 40. But she was the Director of Activities at a senior citizens center, and she called her canoe the "Senior Citizens Ark," which was probably the source of the confusion. Her plan was to use the publicity from the trip to raise funds for the center she worked at. [Deseret News - Feb 15, 1973]

The Coast Guard tried to stop her from going, but realized that it didn't have any legal means to do so. But they needn't have worried. She set off twice, but never got very far. It wasn't until 2012 that someone actually did cross the Atlantic in a canoe.

After failing to cross the Atlantic, Haycock decided to become a coal miner, and was Utah's first female coal miner. Seems like she was a bit of a character.

Haycock as a coal miner

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 15, 2013
Category: Eccentrics | 1970s

Comments

I've never, quite, understood why doing something totally stupid would, magically, generate money for some cause or the other....

I'm doing a 10k run to raise money for P.H.A.R.T. Seriously, who gives a sh1t?

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 06/15/13 at 10:45 AM

W hat did you expect lesbians to do to express themselves back in the day??;)

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 06/16/13 at 01:49 AM

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