Category Archives: Titanic

Titanic

New Book: The Titanic and the Indifferent Stranger

This seems to be the year of Stanley Lord as we have another book CaptainStanleyLordexamining his culpability that tragic night in 1912. The Titanic and the Indifferent Stranger written by Paul Lee is now out in an expanded paperback edition. According to the press release, the book is a 440 page detailed anaylsis that follows the controversy from its roots all the way through the books published for and against Stanley Lord, and the internal deliberations of the British government.

“The Titanic and the Indifferent Stranger” is a 440 page detailed analysis of the case, chronologically following the controversy from initial press reports of the mysterious ship seen from the Titanic’s bows, to the pronouncements made in later years by authors keen to promote their books and opinions over their rivals. Assisting in Dr. Lee’s conclusions is the first printing of the internal deliberations of the UK Government as the campaigns to clear Captain Lord’s name in 1965, 1968 and the early 1990s were ignited by Lord’s friends. The bequeathed papers of Captain Lord’s foe and namesake Walter Lord, and the Captain’s ardent supporter Leslie Harrison have been scoured and provide a rich source of information on the tactics employed on both sides of the argument – culminating in a legal bid to suppress a book critical of the Californian and its crew.

A review by Paul Rogers on the electronic edition at Encyclopedia Titanica gives it high marks. “Lee’s book is, quite simply, the most comprehensive presentation of evidence in relation to Captain Lord and his infamous ship that I have read to date. Rather than relying on footnotes and references, Lee presents, within the text itself, the full transcripts from the American and British Inquiries that relate to the Californian and the other ships implicated in the Titanic disaster. There is no bias whatsoever that I could perceive and Lee treats all those involved with scrupulous fairness.”

I have no doubt that both sides of the debate (the Lordites and Anti-Lordites) will be making their own appraisals known of Lee’s work in the near future (if they have not all ready done so by now).

Signed copies of the book are available from the author’s site at http://www.paullee.com/book_details.php or you can buy it at amazon.co.uk.

Titanic

Titanic Cafe Closed For Health Violation

According to thisisleicestershire.co.uk, the Titanic Cafe in Belgrave Gate, gencaut1Leicester was closed (temporarily) on 13 Aug due to live rodents and mouse droppings found on the premises.

Officials from Leicester City Council’s food safety team found droppings and urine throughout the kitchen and serving area of the Titanic Cafe, in Belgrave Gate, Leicester. Cafe owner Nuri Bay appeared before city magistrates yesterday and was ordered to pay £866.62 costs after they upheld the council’s decision to issue an emergency hygiene notice to prevent the building from being used on August 13. The cafe has now reopened after inspectors revisited the premises prior to yesterday’s hearing.

Yuck.

Titanic

Recent Titanic News

The following news headlines have been posted at titanicnewschannel.com.

1. Surviving the Titanic: The Saga of Davit Vartanian (10 Aug 09, Armenian Weekly)

2. Titanic Exhibition Attracts Crowds To Dockside Museum (9 Aug 09, Yorkshire Post)

3. Shipwreck Declared National Historic Site (7 Aug 09, Canada.com)

4. Nomadic Refloats Titanic’s Tale (6 Aug 09, Belfast Telegraph)

5. Titanic Explorer Ballard To Speak At Wichita Museum (4 Aug 09, Kansas.com)

6. 100000 Visitors to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at Science Museum of Minnesota (4 Aug 09, PR Newswire-press release)

7. In Sinking Economy, Titanic Exhibit Floats (2 Aug 09, LocalNews8.com-Idaho Falls, ID, USA)

8. Titanic Memorial In DC (30 Jul 09, Examiner.com)

9. Titanic Exhibit Was A Fascinating Look At Human Nature (30 Jul 09, Georgina Advocate-Canada)

10. Titanic Exhibit Coming To Louisville (30 Jul 09, Louisville Courier-Journal-USA)

Titanic

Titanic II:The Sequel To Debut Next Week!

The folks over at thespoof.com ran a good spoof article about a possible sequel to Cameron’s Titanic.

The long-awaited sequel to Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker is all set to debut next week. ‘Titanic II:The Sequel’ will follow-up on what happened to the famous wreck after it hit the infamous iceberg. Susan Boyle will sing the title song underwater. The unusual sequel will have no cast, no plot and no director. The four-hour long movie simply shows the bottom of the ocean off Newfoundland. It is expected to make $500 million dollars and only cost $25.00 to produce.

Considering that the thinking in Hollywood these days is to reformulate old television shows for the big screen, something along the lines of Titanic II is not so far off. 🙂

Titanic

Titanic Props Up For Auction

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exit1It is another sign of the times. A well known business is shuttering, in this case the famous 20th Century Props in North Hollywood. Stage props for numerous shows and movies, including Cameron’s Titanic, came from this business. 93,750 pieces are going up for auction next week including rare furniture sets used in such TV shows like The Golden Girls and a desk owned by Howard Hughes used in the film The Aviator.

The reason for the closure is something California does not want to advertise-the high cost of doing business in the state. While the main headquarters does remain in Burbank, Los Angeles, or Hollywood, the actual filming on many television shows and movies is done out of state or in Canada to keep costs low. 20th Century Props, which grew up to support television and movie production, saw their business go down and their taxes going up. They are by no means the only business being hit hard with Hollywood shifting work out of state. A lot of other small businesses that also depend on Hollywood are feeling the pinch as well. Say goodbye to Hollywood says the song. And 20th Century Props is making its exit.

Titanic

Dinosaurs Challenging Titanic At Cincinatti Museum

According to Cincinnati.com, the “Dinosaurs Unearthed” exhibition at the Cincinatti Museum is proving to be quite a success. So far it has sold 130,400 tickets putting it on Top Five in attendance. They expect to sell even more tickets and predict it will move up to the fourth place when it ends on 7 September. The Top Five (in order of sales) are:

2008’s “Bodies…The Exhibition”  with 312,000 visitors
2003-2004’s “Saint Peter and the Vatican: Legacy of the Popes” with 185,300 visitors
2000-2001’s “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” with 162,000 visitors
2006-2007’s encore of “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” with 132,800 visitors.
2009 “Dinosaurs Unearthed” with 130, 400 visitors

Titanic

Latest Californian Theory: Captain Stanley Lord Hated People

Phote:Wikipedia
Photo:Wikipedia

Two issues split the Titanic camp into warring factions: salvage and the Californian issue. The latter issue involves the role of Captain Stanley Lord of the SS California. On the night Titanic went down in 1912, his ship was in the vicinity. Due to the ice on the ocean, he had decided to shut down and wait till morning to proceed. His wireless operator had gone to bed and while rockets were spotted he did not believe it was a distress signal. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Captain Lord came under fire for failing to act. It was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The two camps, the Lordites (pro-Lord) and the anti-Lordites (against Lord) have very different perspectives on the role of Captain Lord. The Lordites argue that the enquiries were hasty and a rush to judgment. The anti-Lordites argue the enquiries got it right, that Lord failed to act when the rockets were sighted.  Now comes a new book that will likely reignite the debate. Daniel Allen Butler’s The Other Side of Night, according to the Scotsman makes a startling claim that Captain Lord was a sociopath. According to the article, Butler had commissioned a series of clinical psychologists to examine Lord’s sworn testimony as well as reports of his actions both before and after the tragedy.

“White rockets meant that somebody, somewhere, was about to die, yet Lord choose to ignore them. What has remained unexplained for more than nine decades is why Lord would so callously choose to disregard such a plea for help. “The answer, which lies in medical science, is that Stanley Lord was a man without conscience: he was a sociopath.”

The article notes that there were allegations that the officers under Lord were coerced to testify to support his position and that the ship’s log, which would have proved the exact location of the California, disappeared. And Butler argues Lord’s story changed over time while others stayed the same. Add to allegations he falisified entries in the logbook and the fact he expressed no sympathy for the victims over the years lends credence, Butler argues, that Lord was a sociopathic personality.

Well that is surely going to get those who support Lord fuming and dashing to their keyboards to type out responses. As for the book, I have not read it so I cannot say whether it is good, bad, or just okay. However relying on psychologists to render an opinion about a historical person is dubious. There was a trend in history many years ago to apply the techniques of psychology to historical figures. The problem is that you do not have the person right there so that you can make a proper clinical analysis. In the case of historical figures you have to rely on what was written about them or what they wrote about themselves. Certainly you can gain insights but it is far from a proper analysis or even a diagnosis. Without the person right there it is difficult to render a truly objective opinion as to what the true mental state was.