Survivors who wrote memoirs

[Sarah S]

Hello again!

I have seen there were several memoirs and autobiographies written by titanic survivors. Could someone give me a list of passengers/crew who wrote/published memoirs that makes mention of their experience on the Titanic?

Officer Lightoller, Mr. Archiebald Gracie, Violet Jessop are probably the most known survivors that have written a book about the ship.

Which other ones are there that I could purchase which contains reliable information about their experience?


Thank you in advance!

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Lawrence Beesley has written a book named Loss Of The SS Titanic.

 

[Sarah S]

Lawrence Beesley has written a book named Loss Of The SS Titanic.

Oh yes I forgot about him, thank you!

 

[Steven Christian]

Oh yes I forgot about him, thank you!

I've posted this before a few times but in case you missed it you can read Beesley's and Gracie's books here. Cheers.

Books: Titanic (sorted by popularity)

Project Gutenberg offers 69,044 free ebooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.

www.gutenberg.org

 

[Seumas]

I think (not 100% sure though) that Frankie Goldsmith and Eva Hart both released short books detailing their Titanic experiences.

A few years ago it emerged that Herbert Pitman wrote a memoir about his time on the Titanic but for some inexplicable reason his grand nephew/niece (in whose possession it is) doesn't want to publish it or let any researchers read it.

 

[Sarah S]

I think (not 100% sure though) that Frankie Goldsmith and Eva Hart both released short books detailing their Titanic experiences.

A few years ago it emerged that Herbert Pitman wrote a memoir about his time on the Titanic but for some inexplicable reason his grand nephew/niece (in whose possession it is) doesn't want to publish it or let any researchers read it.

I have heard of this too and this is really nerve wrecking. Officer Pitman was one of the most secretive officers, so his impressions and experience of the sinking are even more powerful and interesting to find out. But since Pitman left the ship pretty early I doubt he could give us any new accounts of what happened..
Yet I really wonder what he wrote, as it could give us a better picture of him as a person and his life. I truly wished his family published it

 

[Seumas]

I have heard of this too and this is really nerve wrecking. Officer Pitman was one of the most secretive officers, so his impressions and experience of the sinking are even more powerful and interesting to find out. But since Pitman left the ship pretty early I doubt he could give us any new accounts of what happened..
Yet I really wonder what he wrote, as it could give us a better picture of him as a person and his life. I truly wished his family published it

It's things that happened pre-sinking that just might (it's a long shot I do concede) be in Pitman's memoir that could be significant.

For example, there may be more information regarding the ship's speed, course steered and ice warnings from April 10th to April 14th and perhaps also some comments on the character/words/actions of his captain and fellow navigating officers.

Why his relative refuses to share it with the world, I am at a complete loss to know.

If they were looking to make money out of it, they have well and truly missed the boat, 1997-2002/03 was the "Titanic mania" era.

 

[Sarah S]

It's things that happened pre-sinking that just might (it's a long shot I do concede) be in Pitman's memoir that could be significant.

For example, there may be more information regarding the ship's speed, course steered and ice warnings from April 10th to April 14th and perhaps also some comments on the character/words/actions of his captain and fellow navigating officers.

Why his relative refuses to share it with the world, I am at a complete loss to know.

If they were looking to make money out of it, they have well and truly missed the boat, 1997-2002/03 was the "Titanic mania" era.

Yes these are my thoughts as well. His exchanges with fellow officers during the journey would be immensely interesting to know. Also his kind of character that would immerse through his writing, since he often seemed rather dry and taciturn.
I understand if his family wants to keep their privacy, but the fact Pitman wrote a memoir must indicate he had planned to publish it, no? Aren’t memoirs usually made to share it with people? Has anyone tried to contact his family nowadays? Maybe there is a chance

 

[Seumas]

Yes these are my thoughts as well. His exchanges with fellow officers during the journey would be immensely interesting to know. Also his kind of character that would immerse through his writing, since he often seemed rather dry and taciturn.
I understand if his family wants to keep their privacy, but the fact Pitman wrote a memoir must indicate he had planned to publish it, no? Aren’t memoirs usually made to share it with people? Has anyone tried to contact his family nowadays? Maybe there is a chance

I have to disagree about Pitman being dry and taciturn.

According to Dan Parkes research, Pitman was actually quite a friendly, indeed rather jolly sort of chap and was delighted to get back in touch with Boxhall in the late fifties. Pitman's subsequent job as a purser involved daily passenger interaction and required excellent "people skills", which Pitman seems to have had, considering the very long career he had as a purser.

Regarding Pitman's memoir. Because his grand nephew/niece won't let anyone read it, it's unknown if Pitman ever meant for it to be published or just for his family's curiosity. Dan Parkes said on ET several months back that he has tried to get in touch with them but got nowhere - if he's reading this post, I'd be delighted if he could set the record straight !

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Officer Pitman was one of the most secretive officers, so his impressions and experience of the sinking are even more powerful and interesting to find out. But since Pitman left the ship pretty early I doubt he could give us any new accounts of what happened..

True, but as Seumas says, his impressions of the ship's performance and experiences on that Sunday would have been interesting. Also, the reactions of the Officers and crew in the immediate aftermath of the collision. Pitman leftthe Titanic on Lifeboat #5 that was launched between 12:45 am and 12:48 am, which meant that he could have given valuable information about the activities and events in the first hour after the accident.

 

[Sarah S]

I did not intend to insult Pitman, sorry if I came off that way. I was trying to indicate with “dry” that there aren’t as many narrations about him and we don’t have much storytelling from him like we have from somebody like Lightoller, which make Pitman seem like a rather passive charachter despite his high position as 3rd officer. And in the aftermath of the sinking, he hasn’t spoken much in public either, meanwhile Lightoller was in many newspapers and him and Boxhall gave radio interviews. This is probably why I discribed Pitman that way - but I definitely shouldn’t have judged his character as taciturn! He might be simply private and the sinking clearly affected him deeply so he decided not to address it like his fellow colleagues.

For his memoirs, there could be a lot of valuable information for us. If Mr. Parkes can set the record straight with regards to his family, would be awesome!

 

[Ajmal Dar]

"Home From the Sea" by Captain Arthur Rostrum, though not a Titanic survivor, is highly recommended.

 

[Seumas]

I did not intend to insult Pitman, sorry if I came off that way. I was trying to indicate with “dry” that there aren’t as many narrations about him and we don’t have much storytelling from him like we have from somebody like Lightoller, which make Pitman seem like a rather passive charachter despite his high position as 3rd officer. And in the aftermath of the sinking, he hasn’t spoken much in public either, meanwhile Lightoller was in many newspapers and him and Boxhall gave radio interviews. This is probably why I discribed Pitman that way - but I definitely shouldn’t have judged his character as taciturn! He might be simply private and the sinking clearly affected him deeply so he decided not to address it like his fellow colleagues.

For his memoirs, there could be a lot of valuable information for us. If Mr. Parkes can set the record straight with regards to his family, would be awesome!

It's alright and you certainly did not insult Pitman at all.

Yes, he wasn't as ready to speak to the press or bring any attention upon himself, although he did respond to Walter Lord's request for information in the fifties. As I say, he was delighted to get back in touch with Boxhall and shortly before his Pitman's death they actually had lunch together at Boxhall's home.

 

[Jenna Offerty]

James Bisset, second officer on Carpathia, wrote a memoir 'Tramps and Ladies,' and a good chunk focuses on Titanic.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

There is an excellent book called Tales Of A Titanic Family by William Russo that might just fall into your category. Although not written by a survivor per se, the book contains a lot of memoirs from Elizabeth & Mary Lines, mother and daughter who survived on Lifeboat #9. On board the Titanic they had befriended the father & son pair of Percival and Richard White, who helped the ladies to get to the lifeboat but stood back themselves, going down with the ship. The book is mainly about the White family but there are several interesting Titanic related anecdotes, not just from the Lines but others as well.