Author Diana Bristow

[Mike Herbold]

I'm trying to obtain copies of two books written by Diana E. Bristow: "Titanic: Sinking the Myths" and "Titanic: R.I.P., Can Dead Men Tell Tales". They were published by Katco Literary Division, 4851 North Crystal Drive, Fresno California 93795 USA and advertisements for them appeared in the "Atlantic Daily Bulletin." Does anybody have a suggestion on tracking them down?
Thanks, Mike

 

[Mike Herbold]

I forgot to mention that mail to the Fresno address was returned undeliverable.

 

[Mary D. Kolessar (Mgy)]

I obtained a copy of "Titanic: R.I.P., Can Dead Men Tell Tales" to read by ILL from my local Public Library. They obtained the copy from Knox County Public Library, in Knoxville TN. This was published By Harlo Press, 50 Victor, Detroit, Michigan 48203. I have been tryng to obtain a copy of this book for my collection also.

I did obtain a copy of "Titanic: Sinking the Myths" online thru Amazon.com. This was maybe a year ago though.

Another idea is going to a popular online auction site. You can fill out a request, and they will do a search. I believe it stays active for around 2 months, before you have to submit a new request.

 

[Mike Herbold]

Thanks very much, Mary. I'll let you know if I have any luck.

 

[Mike Herbold]

Mary:
Got Bristow's "Titanic: Sinking the Myth" from amazon.com and am now trying to backorder R.I.P.
Thanks for the help,
Mike

 

[Mary D. Kolessar (Mgy)]

Hi Mike,

Glad you were able to get Bristow's "Titanic: Sinking the Myth".

Let me know if you locate a copy of R. I. P., and where.

Thank you,

Mary

 

[Mike Herbold]

Mary:
I've got them both on order through amazon.com
This was my first order through amazon, and I may have been prematurely excited, since neither has showed up yet.
Mike

 

[Mike Herbold]

Mary:
Though I've grown to love Amazon's service, neither Bristow book has shown up yet or has a definite status.

 

[Tracy Smith]

Mike,
Did you ever get "Titanic: Sinking the Myths" from Amazon? I'm wanting to order it myself, and I want to know if I should even bother with Amazon

 

[Mike Herbold]

Hi Tracy:
Nope. Got "R.I.P." but never received "Sinking the Myths," and have never located it on abe or biblio either. I notice its still on Amazon as a special order. Nothing ventured nothing gained, but I don't know that it's worth $36.95 plus shipping. That could cover a nice dinner in South Carolina in March, so I'll pass for now.

 

[Tracy Smith]

I was wanting the book mainly to read what she had to say about Stanley Lord

 

[David Billnitzer]

Tracy:

I have the chapter that you are looking for. If there's anything particular you want to know, drop me an email at:

[email protected]

and I might be able to help you out somehow.

For what it's worth, I will offer my opinion: she strikes me as paranoid delusional. Her conclusions were so bizarre and her logic so tautological, I decided against including her for my Lordite website. But I do have her chapter on good ol' Stanley.

- Dave Billnitzer
The Titanic and the Californian
http://home.earthlink.net/~hiker1217/index.html

 

[Michael Tennaro]

Hi all,

will add my sorry tale of woe when it comes to Amazon.com and Diana Bristow's books. Amazon continues to list Sinking the Myths, but why they do so I am not sure as they are completely unable to fill orders.

I have been 'backordered' on Myths for well over a year now. here is how the process works: I order the book on-line and get a confirmation from Amazon that they received the order. then nothing for a month or so. then a message from them stating that they are having trouble getting the book from the publisher. a month or two later I get another message that they have been unable to fill the order, and would I please email them to confirm I still want the book (which I do). a month or two more passes and I finally get an email from Amazon stating the book is unavailable, they apologize for the inconvenience, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I have been through this complete process twice now, and am on my third go round. and I am already in the late stages of round three as I just 'confirmed' that I STILL want the book. I expect to get an email within the next few weeks stating, yet again, that they can't get the book.

I have emailed Amazon asking them why they just don't change the status for this title to 'unavailable', but got no answer.

to make a long story short, it is highly unlikely that Amazon will be able to get a copy of this book for anyone. my recommendation is to go ahead and place the order through Amazon so you will be on file if they should happen to actually find a couple of copies, but don't have any serious expectations of actually getting the book.

unfortunately, I have found no other source for her books either, but with some of the information posted previously, I will give it another try. and as always, if I have any luck, I will be sure to let you all know.

all the best, Michael (TheManInBlack) T

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Dave,

Isn't 'paranoid delusional' a little strong? Her research may have taken her down some strange roads, but I wouldn't say that reflects on her personal character. She happens to be a very nice lady who was bold enough to put some of her original thinking into print. There are precious few people who will do that. I didn't agree with quite a few of her conclusions, but I have to respect the depth of her research.

I'm not trying to canonise Diana here, but I do take exception to the insinuation that if one's Titanic theories are off base, then there must be something wrong with one's state of mind. I applaud Diana for thinking "out of the box." Even if there are plenty of misses, there still is the occasional profound hit.

Parks

 

[Tracy Smith]

Hopefully, her insights on Stanley Lord will be one of her hits.....

 

[Inger Sheil]

Parks -

Have to agree with you on Diana Bristow's work. I don't agree with her on all her theories or conclusions (and I don't think there's any writer working in the field with whom I could agree with on every point), but I do think she has produced some remarkable material. Her research on Murdoch, for example, uncovered much that was new - and preserved much that would have been lost had she not recorded it, according to the Murdoch researchers I've spoken with.

Some writers in the field will go so far as to draw from her research when it is useful to them, then deride her and her work over all. While I think we should read all works with a critical mind, I don't think we can dismiss someone who - as Parks pointed out - has had some very good research 'hits'.

 

[Carole Lindsay]

To those who want to read "Sinking
the Myth" - why not try an interlibrary loan? I was able to get the book from the San Luis Obispo City-County Library. You may have a long wait otherwise. I was told the publisher is out of business. An interesting note - the book contains some information on Mrs. Snape that I've never seen about her life before Titanic.

 

[Tracy Smith]

I have requested it on interlibrary loan and am waiting for it to come in now.

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

Tracy,

I hope you find it as interesting and thought provoking as I did. While I don't agree with all of her theories and conclusions, I enjoyed the degree of context she provided - and, dare I say it? - she was the first Titanic author who made me see the Duff Gordons as truly human. (Yep, Diana Bristow is directly responsible for me owning a copy of The 'IT' Girls! Can you believe it?)

Anyway, do let us know what you think of it when you finally get to read it. But be warned - it is the size of a community phone book!

Cheers,

Fiona

ps I should add that I was trying to get a copy through Amazon from about 1997 onward. They kept telling me they couldn't get a copy, then they might... I know other people were successful but I ended up with a second hand copy. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd still be waiting for Amazon to reveal the truth. Maybe they don't like being blatantly disobliging to their customers? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Mike Herbold]

Tracy, Fiona, T-M-I-B, et al:
After more months of searching, here's the latest word from Amazon:

"We have attempted to contact the supplier and are sorry to report that we will not be able to obtain the following item from your order:

D.E. Bristow "Titanic : Sinking the Myths"

Though we had expected to be able to send this item to you, we've since found that it is not available from any of our sources at this time. We realize this is disappointing news to hear, and we apologize for any inconvenience we have caused you.

We have cancelled this item from your order."

If this thing every makes it to eBay, somebody's going to make a killing.