Titanic Quotes

[Dave Gittins]

John, the whole glorious opus is at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rescue/sfeature/song.html

If you want to give a performance, I think I have the music somewhere in my files.

Your new question is a real stinker as far as I'm concerned. I fear that it's not somebody from my patch.

 

[John M. Feeney]

Dave: Thanks for that link! Love the verses; hate the maudlin chorus, though.

Ah, "The American Experience" -- one of Public Television's finest! (And one I sorely regret missing far too often.)

I admit the puzzler I just posted is really rather out there. (It's not even directly Titanic related, though it is directly related to a Titanic *survivor*.)

I'll give it a day or two, and see if anyone catches on. But I'll admit, the published work is not one you or I (or anyone *else* these days, for that matter) would be extremely likely to scrutinize. It's more a socio-historical vestige and curiosity than anything else now.

Cheers,
John

 

[Dave Gittins]

I've been hunting without result. I've only come up with an educated guess so far. Was the author a certain sweetie? Or am I off course and heading for the rocks?

 

[John M. Feeney]

Well, you're at least "very warm", Dave. The author was indeed female, and regarded as quite a "dish" by gentlemen friends. She was a highly sought-after social companion, as another of Titanic's illustrious passengers makes exceedingly clear in his own memoirs.

Actually, I think that may well cinch it. Should I spill?

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

Hrm, I'd say that dedication is quite candid regarding the work concerned. Didn't know it was available online, though. John, while your news about a link may not launch a thousand ships, it's quite sweet as it will mean I don't have to google like a Trojan.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Quite a dish! You mean she had a face that launched a thousand ships? And she was a sweetie.

 

[John M. Feeney]

Well, I think the jig is up. Both Fiona and Dave seem to have it now, so I'll divulge.

(Ooh, that *was* a subtle clue -- "the face that launched a thousand ships!" In retrospect now, I realize that the "sweetie" hint went completely over my head. Methinks Dave had it already at that point, but I was too dense to make the connection!)

Indeed, the ravishing author in question was Helen (the face that launched a thousand ships) Churchill Candee -- the apparent "centerpiece" of "our coterie", as described by Colonel Gracie in his memoirs.

The work itself is "How Women May Earn a Living", published in 1900. (The only word actually omitted by those ellipses in the dedication quote was "women", which I thought might make it too obvious.)

So here's that link, courtesy of Cornell University Library: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/Hunter/hunter.pl?handle=cornell.library.cdl/cdl431&id=1

Cornell has individually photo-reproduced the pages of *several* of their more fragile holdings, in order to avoid any further deterioration of the original texts (which are now sequestered). The "up" side of this innovative approach, of course, is that it makes the reproductions almost universally "borrowable" online.

Good show, mates! Enjoy.

Cheers,
John

 

[John M. Feeney]

Has anyone got that "almost like murder" quote yet? I know I've seen i somewhere, but I can't quite place it.

[By the way, though I doubt that many here are unaware of this, the full testimonies and reports of the Titanic Inquiries are available online at The Titanic Inquiry Project website. Both searchable HTMs and downloadable TXT/RTF formats -- with page numbers -- can be gotten there: http://www.titanicinquiry.org/]

 

[Dave Gittins]

I will hint that the man who said it was 'almost like murder' wasn't the Master.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

In case anyone's still yearning to know, it was assistant storekeeper Frank Prentice (in a British TV documentary back in the '80s) who said "It was almost like murder, wasn't it?. I think the clip is also in the 'making-of' documentary that comes with the ANTR dvd.

 

[Michael Shetina]

That documentary was called Titanic; a Question of Murder.

 

[Dave Gittins]

The expression was used as a chapter title in Titanic Voices, which is maybe why it's remembered by some of us.

 

[Cathy Akers-Jordan]

Ok, folks, I'm looking for a quote. I hope someone in this thread can help!

I think it's in a documentary (not A&E, I just watched it again) and I think it's Don Lynch but I'm not sure about that. He says something like "Once Titanic touches your life, she never lets go."

Sound familiar to anyone?

Happy Independence Day!

Cathy

 

[Don Tweed]

Happy 4th to you also Cathy!
I know that in Pellegrinos' book, Her Name Titanic, there is a short chapter quite similar to the quote you refer too.
He says once Titanic touches you there is no divorcing her ever!!!
May not be the correct one you are looking for but I do love that quote.
Best regards, Don

 

[Cathy Akers-Jordan]

Hi Don,

Thanks! I'm not surprised Pellegrino said something like that - I think everyone has.

I just found the quote I was looking for:

"Once the Titanic gets into your life she never, ever leaves."

~ Daniel Allen Butler, author of Unsinkable: The Full Story of RMS Titanic, in documentary Beyond Titanic.

I'm sure many of us agree!

Best wishes,

Cathy

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Well, I can't argue the point. This ship has certainly managed to grab a lot of people's attention...and keep it!

 

[Cathy Akers-Jordan]

Hi Michael,

And it's hard to explain to people who haven't been touched by it...

Best wishes,

Cathy