# Walter Lord goes down with the ship **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117 "2002-05-21T16:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/1 "2002-05-21T16:06:58Z")
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](http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=Walter+Lord&title=&submit=Begin+Search&new_used=*¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr) as well. Good, readable historian! ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/2 "2002-05-21T16:23:04Z")
I haven’t read his Titanic book, however I read is Pearl Harbor and Midway books, good introductory books. He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/3 "2002-05-21T16:28:51Z")
The film version of “A Night To Remember,” with Clifton Webb, was a hundred times better than “Titanic,” and about half as long. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/4 "2002-05-21T16:46:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/5 "2002-05-21T19:38:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/6 "2002-05-21T22:24:33Z")
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. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/7 "2002-05-21T22:39:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/8 "2002-05-22T23:27:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*The film version of “A Night To Remember,” with Clifton Webb, was a hundred times better than “Titanic,” and about half as long. \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/9 "2002-05-23T00:23:03Z")
Do NOT even mention Pellegrino! His book, _Her Name Titanic_ was one of the worst, most glurgerific books I’ve ever read! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/10 "2002-05-23T00:56:01Z")
“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. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/11 "2002-05-23T14:12:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/12 "2002-05-23T14:30:07Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/13 "2002-05-23T14:34:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/14 "2002-05-28T07:33:42Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-lord-goes-down-with-the-ship/110117/15 "2002-05-28T08:16:20Z")
Walter Lord didn’t go down with this ship. His research and reporting is a beacon.