Despite living on a tiny island for most of his life, there has been a wide variety of press about Island Boy Mitch Rolling. He appears in a wide variety of publications including books, magazines, newspapers, TV shows, travel guides, blogs, non-profit articles and even historical markers!
Mitch was immortalized in the book Water and Light by Stephen Harrigan. He appears in the index of this book with more mentions than Jacques Cousteau!
Mitch was also the basis for a character in the novel Suspense.com by Judy Barnhardt.
Mitch was a featured reviewer for the book Dive Log: Discovering Life Under the Sea by Tim Warnock.
An entire chapter of Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die by Chris Santella was devoted to Grand Turk and Mitch. However, you have to look under the United Kingdom (instead of the Caribbean) to find this section about the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In an episode of the TV show, Into the Drink, a segment was filmed on Grand Turk not very long after Mitch’s house was destroyed in Hurricane Ike. Mitch plays live during this episode aboard the Turks and Caicos Explorer II.
Some of Mitch’s mentions in the news were related to his many adventures while “living the dream”. His stories from the islands are always entertaining!
Island Boy Mitch Rolling has been called many things in the press, including “the doyen of the dive business on Grand Turk”, “an accomplished musician,” “the unofficial ambassador of Grand Turk,” and “the rock star that never was.”
Skin Diver magazine describes Mitch as a person with “infectious humor” and says: “…’Discard Stress Here,’ because you are going to shed it like an old coat anyway when you meet Mitch Rolling…”