If you've read my 100 things, you know that I am a self-proclaimed Titanic nut. My interest in the Titanic began one lonely night in Kingsland, Georgia. I was home alone, as Bubblehead was off protecting the country. I was done with all my studies for the evening, and looking for something on TV, when I just happened to catch the very beginning of this movie. Before this I knew just a little bit about the ship. I watched the movie and was riveted. I still can't explain what it is that captivated me so, but it still has a hold on me to this day.
A couple weekends later I had decided to go spend the weekend at my grandparent's farm outside of Gainesville, Florida. My aunt and uncle happened to also be there that weekend, and they had brought with them a video tape of the same movie. I was able to watch it again, and was just as fascinated with the story.
This started my obsession. My next step was to read A Night To Remember, and the sequel, The Night Lives On, both by Walter Lord. (Both excellent books. The first is about as factual as they come, and yet reads like a novel. If you read one book on the disaster, this is the one to pick up.)
From there I just went nuts. I started collecting books. I spent extra time at school in the library, going through old newspapers on microfilm. I wanted the facts - the real life stories, and not the ones fabricated by Hollywood and myths.
Of course it wasn't long after this that I read in a magazine that James Cameron was in the process of directing a movie on the subject, and I couldn't wait for that movie to premier. I just happen to attend the very first showing in our little Navy town of the movie. Seeing it on the big screen was so powerful, and I remember being in tears at the end of the movie, and feeling like I had actually been there. By this time I knew which of Cameron's characters where fictional, and which were real. I recognized which lines were taken from survivor accounts of the sinking, and which were embellished to add to the drama. I saw it a total of four times in the theater. I could have seen it more, but Bubblehead had been Titanic-ed out.
With the success of the movie came a surge of popularity for the Titanic itself. It became much easier for me to find books and movies on the disaster. Currently I have over 65 books, and over a dozen movies and documentaries on the RMS Titanic. I am a member of the Titanic Historical Society, and I've been fortunate enough to be able to see the artifact exhibit when it was in Seattle.
Bubblehead has told me I should write a book about the ship. I would be incredibly proud to see a Titanic book in print with my name on it, but I won't ever write that book. I don't believe I would have anything new to say on the matter. I would only be able to regurgitate all the facts I've read in other books.
I go in spurts now. I will read book after book on the Titanic, and then set it aside and not touch them for months. One year I cooked an authentic meal from the first class menu on the day of the sinking. Somehow I never tire of this tragic story.
Yesterday marks the 93rd anniversary of the beginning of the Titanic's maiden voyage, which she never completed. On the anniversary of the sinking I will be posting about the ship herself, and some of her passengers and more interesting stories. You probably know the story of Jack and Rose, but I'd like to share with you a few of the real stories.
And by the way, if I were to write that book, it would be entitled "The Titanic: Ignorance and Arrogance"
