Edward Sr's date of death

[Gary Cooper]

Well, the copy still in the shops is actually a second edition, slightly updated after Mr Cameron's film. It's easy to tell the two editions apart, the first has dark blue lettering on the cover, the second edition has red. I'm working on a bigger, better edition, taking my time too as I want to get it as complete as I can this time, so it won't be out for some years yet, plus I have other unrelated projects to work on too. Yes, Titanic related books are a niche market, but I write local history, so it will be angled more in that direction, I'm trying to avoid a Titanic heavy version of Smith's life this time, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Melissa Kalson]

Might I post here and say that I just recently bought the book by Pat Lacey 'The Master of the Titanic' and she, too, says that by the age of 14, Edward J. Smith had lost his father which, Gary, would be 1864, you're right. He had come home from school to find that his father had passed away. Just a post note

Interesting reading btw

Sincerely,

Melissa

 

[Gary Cooper]

Yes Melissa, I was pretty impressed by Mrs Lacey's book when I read it, the research is very good, that's the advantage of being related to Smith, I suppose. Her work came out after mine, so I discovered the book later on. The only problem is sorting the fiction from the fact, which can be a headache, you never know where one ends and the other begins. Just recently I was researching EJ's time on the Senator Weber and though her account of his time on the ship is right in regard to dates and some incidents recorded in that ship's log, she has added to it quite a bit. Still, like you, I quite enjoyed the experience, it put a little flesh on Smith's bones.

 

[Barbara Judge]

Yes Melissa, I was pretty impressed by Mrs Lacey's book when I read it, the research is very good, that's the advantage of being related to Smith, I suppose. Her work came out after mine, so I discovered the book later on. The only problem is sorting the fiction from the fact, which can be a headache, you never know where one ends and the other begins. Just recently I was researching EJ's time on the Senator Weber and though her account of his time on the ship is right in regard to dates and some incidents recorded in that ship's log, she has added to it quite a bit. Still, like you, I quite enjoyed the experience, it put a little flesh on Smith's bones.

As a New Zealand direct descendent of Catherine Marsh/Hancock/Smith ( the Hancock line) - I have read both your book, Gary, and Pat Lacey's. Both books put flesh on the bones of my knowledge of our links to the Captain EJ Smith and they also provided wonderful information about the extended families.