A Titanic Coincidence by Gavin Murphy

[Jan C. Nielsen]

Thanks for the article, Gavin. I really like old historic hotels. We have many of them in San Francisco, including, inter alia, the Palace, the St. Francis, the Fairmont and the Sir Francis Drake.

Have you ever seen the film "Giant"? It's based on a true story --- that of oil wildcatter, Glen McCarthy. McCarthy is the Jet Rink character. Anyway, McCarthy built a very famous hotel in 1949, named the Shamrock, in Houston, Texas.

They had wild parties there. People were drunk, they got into fights. People I met actually said it was worse than what was portrayed in the movie.

The Shamrock had a huge outdoor swimming pool. It was so big that people would waterski in it, boat and all.

Alas, in 1987 the Shamrock was torn down. I had the good fortune of visiting the hotel before the wrecking ball came. It had a powerful, grand look, with 1950s fixtures and styles. It was a beautiful hotel. And it was sad to see it go.

However, it's nice to see that major cities have preserved many of these hotels.

 

[Gavin Murphy]

Hi J, thanx for this. I have just returned from a business trip to Asia and Europe and, as per usual when I am in London, I stayed at the Hotel Russell....v. grand and close to where I used to work in the London legal district. So you must go there for 3 reasons:

1. You are a lawyer and it is close to the Inns of Court and Chancey Lane

2. It is old and grand

3. It has a Titanic connection.......George Wright of Halifax, Canada stayed there before setting sail on the ship. Alas, he perished.

Kind regards,

G