Maine ‘survivor’ has her own calendar, Internet discussion group

PORTLAND – A Maine lobster boat captain who’s on the TV show “Survivor” is making the most of her celebrity.

Already featured on the “Lobstering Women of Maine” calendar, Zoe Zanidakis of Monhegan Island has her own calendar now: “A Year In The Life of Zoe.” The calendar has garnered about 10,000 orders from individuals and major retailers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble.

An Internet discussion group focusing solely on Zanidakis also has sprung up, so people anywhere can keep track of her.

Jess Wiggin, owner of Jess’ Market in Rockland, sells Zanidakis’ calendar, as well as her lobster. He said Zanidakis is in the process of lining up some T-shirts and baseball caps to sell.

Zanidakis herself is hard to find. Wiggin said she has taken a trip to Australia to get away from the media glare.

Zanidakis is one of 16 contestants on the show. The filming is over but fans will have to wait until the May 18 finale to find out if she outlasted the others to win $1 million.

The series, which was filmed on the remote South Pacific island of Nuku Hiva, calls on contestants to survive desolate conditions, a series of predetermined challenges and some vicious in-fighting. At the end of each episode someone is voted off the island by the others.

Zanidakis’ rooters say her chances of winning are good. First of all, she’s gotten little camera time. In the past, “Survivor” contestants who get a lot of camera time early are often voted off early, said Jona Pillsbury of Portland.

Another good sign for Zanidakis is that she’s in Australia. Often when contestants get voted off the show on Thursday night, they appear on talk shows the following morning, so it would seem Zanidakis is not planning to be in New York or Los Angeles anytime soon.

Zanidakis also has been seen trying to make peace between sparring contestants. That may help her avoid getting voted off early, since people will probably vote off the sparring parties first.

“I’ve seen her step in and be the peacemaker,” said Amy York, an East Millinocket native now living in North Carolina. She’s also a member of the Internet discussion group focusing on Zanidakis.

“I honestly believe she’ll be there at the end. If you’re stranded on an island,” York said, “who better to be stranded with than a fisherman from Maine who lives on an island?”

Zoe’s Web site: www.monheganzoe.com

Discussion group: http:///groups.yahoo.com/group/ZoeZanidakisMaineSurvivor/