- Original Article
Titanic's history lives on through local man
When John Stuart saw a newspaper article Monday about the death of the last Titanic survivor, his first thought was, 'My gosh, I talked to her. I have her signature.'
The retired Castle Rock history teacher chatted with Millvina Dean at the 1992 convention of the Titanic Historical Society, held in Boston. Dean, two months old when the newly christened ocean liner sank in April 1912, made a lasting impression, said Stuart, 65.
'I remember her being a character, very outspoken and bubbly,' he said Wednesday. 'Of course she didn't remember the incident, just what her mother told her.'
Stuart's interest in the Titanic began when he encountered 'A Night to Remember' as a freshman at West Bremerton High School. The Walter Lord book about the disaster fascinated him.
'Here's this huge, monstrous ship going down. The rich are on there. The poor are on there. The ship was something that couldn't be destroyed. As much as I could get hold of between that time and when they found it, I've read it or watched it.'
Stuart recalled the first time he saw televised images of the Titanic following its discovery on Atlantic Ocean seabed by oceanographer Robert Ballard in 1985.
'When the first pictures came on TV, I was, 'Whoa! That's incredible, there it is' ' he said.
Stuart and his wife, Barbara, went to the Titanic Historical Society's 1987 convention in Wilmington, Del.
'The coverage was huge, because it was the first (convention) since it was discovered,' Stuart said. 'Ballard was there. There were about 20 survivors they'd brought from all over the world.'
Stuart and his brother, another Titanic fanatic, attended the 1992 convention commemorating the 80th anniversary of the sinking.
'It was amazing that in five years, so many (survivors) had died or were too elderly to travel,' he said. 'There were only about four.'
Among the four was Dean.
Like many lot of people in those days, Dean's family was coming to the United States to start a new life, Stuart said.
'Her mother talked to her about the horror,' he said. 'The adults remember the screams, the ship plunging, being in the lifeboat. Millvina mentioned that the ship was the death of her dad; the ship is the graveyard. They (survivors) all want it to be left alone.'
In addition to talking with survivors and seeing Titanic furnishings, such as china and deck chairs at the conventions, Stuart also visited a traveling exhibit in Seattle a few years ago. It included a section of the ocean liner about 40 feet long.
'There it was, an actual piece of the ship,' Stuart said with awe in his voice. 'There was a sign that said 'Don't touch,' but I waited until the guards weren't looking, and I touched it.'
Stuart's collection of books, videos and memorabilia extend to other sunken ships, especially the USS Indianapolis. The navy cruiser delivered critical parts of the atomic bombs for the attack on Japan in 1945.
After delivering the bomb parts, it went unescorted to the Philippine Sea where it was attacked by a Japanese submarine.
'Eight hundred men survived the sinking, but there were only 300 rescued after shark attacks and exposure. It was brutal,' Stuart said. 'My dad was on the ship earlier and had served with many of those men. He knew the captain and a number of men serving. It was difficult for him to talk about, even though he wasn't there when it sank.'
Stuart easily rattles off details about other famous sinkings, such as those of the Andrea Doria, Lusitania and Bismarck.
'They all were very important events in history,' he said. 'It's not just the ship sinking. It's the impact on history.'