Lusitania
Authors: Greg King
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In memory of my beloved mother, Helena
Greg
To my parents, Edward and Mary O’Hanlon, with love
Penny
The writing of any book can be a complicated and challenging process; at best, it also offers scope for expression and a useful outlet for energies and ideas that might otherwise rumble endlessly around in one’s head. This book, born in and written under less than ideal circumstances, has ultimately provided the kind of experience for which every author hopes: new friendships, generous fellow researchers, intellectual exercise, and ultimately the transformation of concept into reality.
This book was really the brainchild of two people who believed in the idea and who helped to push it to fruition: our agent, Dorie Simmonds, in London, and Charles Spicer, our editor at St. Martin’s Press. Even when energies, effort, and attention were flagging, both remained constant sources of encouragement. Charlie in particular has understood late developments and deadline extensions that might otherwise have proved catastrophic. And April Osborn, assistant editor at St. Martin’s Press, has helped answer queries and been an often sorely needed source of good news.
The idea for this book was first discussed in the summer of 2013, at a time when Greg’s beloved mother, Helena, was in declining health, and much of his attention was thus diverted elsewhere. Helena had enthusiastically supported Greg throughout his efforts. Her death in September, just a month after this project began, was an unexpected blow, as Greg and his father, Roger, struggled through a difficult mourning process.
Greg thanks his beloved father for his encouragement and invaluable support in this especially trying time.
Reassuring relatives also helped: Greg would like to especially note the thoughtful and much appreciated attentions of his aunt and uncle Virginia and Willard Pearson; his cousin Jeannine Evans; his aunt and uncle George and Ann Cline; and his aunt Anna King. Everyone mourns in a different way: this book—demanding so much of Greg’s time and attention each day—became an invaluable outlet for his energies and helped focus his mind at a time when concentration was difficult.
Greg would also like to thank a truly supportive group of friends, even if the last few years have often left him preoccupied with other concerns: Janet Ashton, Bob Atchison, Antonio Pérez Caballero, Diana and Nick de Courcy-Ireland, Simon Donoghue, Professor Joseph Fuhrmann, Coryne Hall, Ceceilia Hamilton-Brown, Sophie von Hohenberg, Chuck and Eileen Knaus, Marlene Eilers Koenig, Angela Manning, Susanne Meslans, Ilana Miller, Rob Moshein, Mike Pyles, Karen Roth, Debra Tate, Katrina Warne, and Sue and Mike Woolmans. Brad Swenson, of Buy and Sell Video in Everett, Washington, not only kept him entertained but also came to his technological assistance during research. And Arturo Beéche, editor and publisher of the
European Royal History Journal,
has provided enthusiastic support and a diverting mixture of projects to keep him current in the royal history universe.
Penny would like to thank her family for their support: Peter and Lynne O’Hanlon of Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands; James and Tricia Manara of Phoenix; Jon Phillips of Tucson; Peggy, Darren, Eric, and Ryan Cartwright of Riverside, California; Barbara Wilson of Riverside, California; and Mary Kelsey of San Diego. Above all, thanks to Tom Wilson, for midnight repairs on Penny’s computer, for buying and building extra bookshelves, for taking over at home during archival visits, and for generally enduring life with a writer for almost twenty years.
Penny would also like to thank her employees and coworkers at Riverside City Gym, who have carried on keeping the doors open when the boss was unavailable: James Brown, Justin DeSoucy, Daniel Early, Nicole Flaherty, Gino Gonzalez, Gio Gonzalez, Alex Howard, Haley Hyland, Clayton Nicodemus, Wellington Porter, Jennifer Rider, James Shearer, Josh Sweeten, Casey Watson, David Watson, Jisel Wilson, and Alvin Wright. Thanks also to Bent Corydon, Ivan Crystal, Rosie Pérez, and Guillermo Pérez. And many thanks to Eugene Mejia, Don Lowrey, and Chris Schaper.
And thanks to the many gym members who have pitched in and helped, supporting Penny through the flood of Labor Day Weekend 2013 and generally through the last two years. You guys are awesome!
Occasionally in life, one comes across a person wiser and stronger than his years. Penny thanks Andrei Karlin, hope of the future, for being himself, which is a wonderful thing to be. We wish him nothing but the very best, though he already has much of that in his family.
Penny thanks Simon Donoghue, for years of friendship, laughter, and historical shenanigans. She looks forward to meeting him in person one day. She also thanks Oscar Shearer for his friendship and everything that means, from workouts to diet tips, conversations to arguments on subjects as varied as cars, Middle Eastern politics, and Spartan warfare. She looks forward to many more years of the same.
* * *
Finally, thanks to Penny’s longtime PS friends, most of them never met in person, but all of them valued as much as those met every day.
In researching this book, we have been lucky to draw upon the patient and amiable help of a number of institutions and archives. We would like to thank Aya Ito and Bill Barker for access to the Hoehling and Hoehling Archive at the Mariners’ Museum, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia; Matthew Chipping of the BBC Archives, Perivale Park, London; the staff of the McCord Museum in Montreal, for help in researching the family of Marguerite Allan; Michaela Strong at the National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland; Darren Yearsley of the CBC Radio Archives, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and especially Carol Leadenham of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, at Stanford University in Stanford, California. Carol not only allowed us access to the Bailey and Ryan Archive there but also took the time to show us the handle of an oar inscribed
Lusitania,
which was donated to the Hoover Institution, and which allegedly came from one of the lifeboats used on May 7, 1915.
Chris Lands, of Seaocean Book Berth in Seattle, located many of the obscure maritime works we used.
We also thank Joan Blacker, Interlibrary Loan Specialist at the Everett Public Library, and the Everett Public Library’s reference staff for their thorough and diligent research and work in locating some of the rare and obscure materials on which this book draws. Their assistance proved invaluable.
We are happy to thank Mary Carpenter of Riverside, California. Mary is the granddaughter of
Lusitania
passengers Gladys and Albert Clay “Chris” Bilicke. She provided us with anecdotal information regarding her family, which corrected some of the misinformation about them that has seeped into the historical record. She has also shared photographs of her grandparents for use in this book.
Oscar Shearer provided much-needed advice and technological expertise in preparing the illustrations in this book. We thank him for his patience and generosity.
Lusitania
historian Michael Poirier not only shared rare, previously unpublished images from his own collection but also contacted researchers and relatives of passengers on our behalf. Thanks to him we have been able to include a number of important photographs, unpublished memoirs, letters, and accounts of the tragedy. We would like to thank Chris Anagnos, the family of Albert Bestic, Mary Jolivet, Paul Latimer, Chester Nimitz Lay and Richard Bailey, Peter Lordan, Marika Pirie, and Rick Timmis for their generosity. We would also especially like to thank Demetrio Baffa Trasci Amalfitani di Crucoli and his family for information on survivor donna Angela Papadopoulos.
A number of people read through this book and gave us much-needed feedback, corrections, and suggestions, as well as helping with research. Janet Ashton kept us up to date on breaking developments and spent time researching Ian Holbourn’s book
The Child of the Moat
so that we could include details here. Simon Donoghue endured several drafts of the manuscript and was always ready with sage advice. Sue Woolmans also diligently worked on our behalf, offering a multitude of information on
Lusitania
and her last voyage that has helped shape the book.
Susanne Meslans again proved herself an invaluable friend during the days and weeks after the death of Greg’s mother. She matched her emotional support with research, repeatedly sacrificing her time and money to obtain materials in which she had no personal interest so that we could explore disparate topics. She also endured reading a less than polished manuscript and offered helpful advice on arrangement and the social background of the era.
Although we had both had long-standing interests in the
Lusitania
story, we came to this book almost by accident, outsiders in a world of historians steeped in the ship’s history. The prospect was intimidating. Yet we were delighted to find that people like Eric Sauder, Jim Kalafus, and Michael Poirier—researchers and authors who have devoted decades to the ship and the passengers on her last voyage—were welcoming and supportive. Eric answered queries and shared information and images with us, for which he has our thanks. Jim Kalafus and Michael Poirier run the
Lusitania Resource,
the world’s foremost Web site on the ship and those aboard on her last voyage. Anyone wishing to know more about these passengers and their experiences can discover a wealth of information at
www.rmslusitania.info
, where Jim and Mike so graciously share their years of accumulated research. Jim also read an early version of the manuscript: his corrections and forthright comments helped shape portions of the book and ensure its accuracy.
And finally, there is Mike Poirier. Mike had the unenviable job of suffering through numerous versions of the manuscript, always making time in his busy life to advise and assist us in ways that have proved invaluable to the finished product. His helpful critiques led us to a complete—and much needed—rewrite.
He not only shared rare accounts, memoirs, letters, and newspaper clippings from his extraordinary personal archive but also contacted numerous relatives of those aboard
Lusitania
during her final voyage seeking information and illustrative materials. There is little we can say in thanks: quite simply, Mike made this book what it is. We can only hope that, in some small way, it helps the ongoing efforts to put a human face to this tragedy.