Wasn’t sure which forum to put this in, but since he’s an author . . . Walter Lord, best-known for his Titanic book, “A Night to Remember,” has died. Here is a link to his other books as well.
Good, readable historian!
I haven’t read his Titanic book, however I read is Pearl Harbor and Midway books, good introductory books. He will be missed.
The film version of “A Night To Remember,” with Clifton Webb, was a hundred times better than “Titanic,” and about half as long.
You are so correct, plnnr.
I love Lord’s book. It surprises me that he’s an American, because his title is so British in its understatement.
His love affair with Titanic began when he took a cruise as a 9-year-old on her sister ship, Olympic.
A smart, witty, painstaking writer. He had a good long life, but yeah, he’ll be missed.
I’ll drink a toast (no ice in the glass!) to him later today.
Geez. I read “A Night To Remember” when I was in 9th or 10th grade and found it fascinating.
I’ve never read his Midway or Pearl Harbor books, but now I think I’ll have to get copies.
Good journey, sir.
Don’t forget his sequel, “The Night Lives On”, written after Ballard found the ship.
I didn’t even know he was still alive. Wow.
Charles Pellegrino (much maligned among Titanic enthusiasts) mentioned in his book Her Name, Titanic that Walter Lord was also the man you went to if you wanted to know anything about the Alamo.
Thanks, Mr. Lord.
Actually, the movie with Clifton Webb was called TITANIC as well (came out in 1953, I think), and it was a godawful boring soap opera in which the entire sinking of the ship happens in five minutes at the end. The James Cameron movies was light years ahead of this trash.
On the other hand, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (1958) is an entertaining “docudrama” (before the word was even invented) that captures the historical details in an exciting, memorable movie.
Do NOT even mention Pellegrino! His book, Her Name Titanic was one of the worst, most glurgerific books I’ve ever read!
“A Night to Remember” was the first ‘adult’ book I ever read - I was 6, and I still remember excitedly reading passages over and over… an amazing feat for a British historian. 
Walter Lord was an American, JohnT.
I urge you all to read Down With The Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic. It’s not so much about the ship and her passengers as about what they’ve meant to the world, primarily Americans, in the ninety years since.
It’s fascinating reading.
A friend of mine is loaning me Lord’s The GoodYears (1960), a cultural history of 1900–15. Sounds terrific! Anyone else here read it?
We both went to a small private school in Baltimore, called the Gilman
School. I remember that, in the sixth grad, I won a prize and was awarded a copy of his book on the Titanic. I think, but am not sure, that he spoke to us once.
Frank Deford, the sportswriter, also went to Gilman.
I once had a copy of A Night to Remember that was exquisite. It was not just text: almost every page had a photograph or illustration or reprint of a newspaper or magazine article or some kind of image. There was a photo of the “Shut up, shut up, I am busy, I am working Cape Race” communication, for instance.
I cannot find it. It may have gone in the auction when I was seventeen. Or it may have been among the things that were stolen from my parents’ storage space. I cannot find such a thing on Amazon or in a library, either. No one seems to ever have heard of it. But I owned it! I owned it, I tell you!
Walter Lord didn’t go down with this ship. His research and reporting is a beacon.