Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
#0Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:36pm
an end of an era...read her story. It's moving....
BOSTON - Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died, a funeral home said Sunday. She was 99.
Asplund, who was just 5 years old, lost her father and three brothers — including a fraternal twin — when the "practically unsinkable" ship went down in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.
full story
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 02:36 PM
#1re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:39pm
When I was in my really early years of elementary school, I developed this weird obsession with the whole Titanic thing. I wasn't more than 6. Over the years, I dragged my parents to hole-in-the-wall Titanic museums and made them watch all kinds of documentaries with me. I remember reading about how for the 100th anniversary, there was going to be a replica that would sail what should've been the Titanic's actual voyage, or something. And I also remember thinking how sad it would be when there were no surivivors alive any longer.
I'm still fascinated by it.
Are there still survivors alive outside of the States?
ETA -- nevermind. 
#2re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:42pm
i went through a HUGE Titanic phase as well, a couple of years ago...
but it never involved the Leo movie
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
#3re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:43pm
Don't know if this is verified or not, but here's a link, nonetheless.
It says there are two known survivors left, and one man whose whereabouts are unknown.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Titanic_Survivors
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#4re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:45pm
I would assume there are international survivors, if they specificed that she's the last American survivor.
I was obsessed with the Titantic too. I even had a picture of it on the wall in my room. I once met Robert Ballard on this field trip we took in sixth grade because he was giving a lecture and was so excited. Everyone else thought I was weird- until the movie came out, and then everyone and their mother suddenly was interested in it and I had to be on a WAITING LIST for a book I used to have no problem checking out of the library on a regular basis. *is bitter*
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#5re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:46pmYou met him? I saw him speak once. I wanted to meet him, and go in the submarine. hah. I had such a history-geek fangirl thing for him and his work.
#6re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:48pm
yes luv, the article talks about the two left in Britain.....but they have no memory of it, as they were 6 months and 2 months old when it happened. That is what is SO sad about this........she was the last survivor who had the memories........and apparently her mother never recovered from the whole thing, and just kind of limped through life.
I've always been a Titanic freak. There was a book written in 1998, 14yrs before the Titanic called "Titan" about a ship called the Titan that was uunsinkable...and the story is so much like the titanic story that it's eerie....yet it was published 14yrs before Titanic.....
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#7re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:50pm
well since no one read the article, which I assume because of these questions......here
"At least two other survivors are living, but they were too young to have memories of the disaster. Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, was 10 months old and Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, was 2 months old."
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 02:50 PM
#8re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:50pm
I posted that before I finished reading.
I have an entire shelf full of Titanic books at home. When I was younger, my goal in life was to write one myself.
#9re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:54pm
Yeah, I don't even remember what the field trip was about- a museum or something- but he was giving a lecture about sea creatures or something while this video was going on, and then he answered our questions. At the end, one of the teachers had an additional question, so I went up with her and shook his hand. I was too starstruck to say anything other than "Hi". 
I wanted to write a book too, Em, but after it became the new fad, I kind of gave up on that goal.
Elphaba, you have a typo in your post. The book about the Titan was written in 1898, not 1998. 
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 02:54 PM
Wanting life but never knowing how
#10re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:00pm
Right. I was mad that the obsession came out because of Leonardo DiCaprio. I wanted to see the movie for other reasons, damn it!
I totally would've fangirled Robert Ballard, though. ha.
#11re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:07pmI actually became hooked on the history of the Titanic in the mid 1990's. There was an article in TIME magazine (or Newsweek or something) about the fascination people have with tragic events. The article gave brief descriptions of the tragedies of the Titanic, Hindenburg, Chicago fire, 1906 SF earthquake, etc. When reading the Titanic segment I was totally fascinated by all of the true life stories that went on onboard that ship that fateful night. I immediately went out and read Walter Lord's two books "A Night to Remember" and "The Night Lives On" (I also bought the movie "A Night to Remember" which I still think is better than the 1997 movie). I have been lucky enough to see many of the Titanic exhibits, and even bought a piece of coal from the ocean floor where Titanic lays (of course RMS Titanic Inc. stopped selling these a few back I think). I was excited when both the musical and the movie came out in 1997. Although, I think there were enough exciting TRUE stories that went on that night that could have been immortalized in the movie that they didn't need to invent the whole Jack/Rose story.
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man
#12re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:13pm
Heh, yeah. I was the geek that fast-forwarded through the car scene and put it in slow-mo to be able to see the grand staircase and the first class dining room.
Did you ever see that TV movie about the Titanic that came out a year or so before the other movie? I was just looking it up and I had no idea it was Catherine Zeta Jones and Peter Gallagher that had been in it.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#13re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:14pmI didn't know that even existed!
#14re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:16pmRobert Ballard came and gave a lecture at my college -- I was probably the most excited person there!
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:25pmMeh, it wasn't that good, especially when compared with the 1997 movie. Apparently, there were many historical inaccuracies, especially regarding the layout/design of the ship. I just had no idea that it was Catherine Zeta Jones in that- it was before she had done Mask of Zorro or married Michael Douglas, so she was pretty much a nobody.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#17re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:30pm
I like documentaries better. I have lots of them on video. A&E once aired this HUGE documentary, and somehow, I missed it, so I (at age... like, 12) planned to call the production company and ask them to sell me a video of it. I wanted it so. badly. Then i decided it was a lost cause.
#18re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:33pmOne night either A&E or Discovery ran back to back hour long documentaries about the Titanic. I taped them both. I think one was about Robert Ballard returning to the wreckage.
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man
#19re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:37pmthe older Titanic movies are better....I hated the 1997 one, except for the scene of all the bodies bobbing up and down in the water.....that was so unsettling.
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#20re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:40pm
I have this amazing coffee table book with pictures from the wreckage, and stuff. There's a museum in Liverpool, I think. I would love to see it.
I miss having The History Channel and The Discovery Channel. 
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#21re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:47pm
I have this amazing coffee table book with pictures from the wreckage, and stuff.
Me too.
I also became infatuated with Titanic history. I loved the 1997 movie, and it inspired me to research anything Titanic-related in general. I dragged my family to see a Titanic exhibit in Minneapolis in fifth grade which featured a large part of the hull, many artifacts, and the "ice wall" that was the temperature of the sea the night of the sinking. Most people couldn't keep their hand on it for more than five seconds or so.
I also read both of Walter Lord's books and was always checking Yahoo for new Titanic websites. My obsession got to the point where you could often name a passenger, and I could reply with details about the person. I'm glad I'm out of that phase, but it still fascinates me.
#22re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:49pmIs that the book that has the individual pictures of all the antifacts they're recovered, like the dishes and everything? I still remember the bottle of wine that still had its cork in it that they recovered.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#23re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:51pm
Milvina Dean (the youngest passenger) is still alive but has recently stopped attending events, due to health issues. There's another woman over there who never actively promoted the ship and its fate as cultural phenomenons. Finally, there are many passengers who just sort of disappeared from our radar, and every few years there's a woman claiming to be Lorraine Allison (a 2-year-old first class child who supposedly went down with the ship with her parents because they spent too much time searching for her baby brother, who had already been taken into a lifeboat by a mentally-deranged nanny; he ended up getting poisoned to death at the age of 17 anyway).
Funny thing about Robert Ballard is that he thinks people need to get over their obsessions with Titanic. I think he even said, "The ship sank. Get over it!" Very humble.
For some reason this year, the History Channel didn't commemorate the anniversary of the sinking! Instead they had a "Ten Days That Shook the World" series running, which was very interesting.
My introduction to the disaster was through the scene in Ghostbusters II. Love that movie. Anyway.
P.S. Titanic: An Illustrated History is an amazing coffee table book. Ken is just a brilliant artist.
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 03:51 PM
#24re: Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies
Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:51pm
A friend of mine lives in England, and she sent me copies of a manifest from the ship that got passed down in her family. I have it at home, still. She had distant relatives on the ship, I think.
I think so, skittles. But it's at home, so I'm not sure.
ETA -- I think he did say that, but I remember reading that it was more because since he's done so much other fascinating work, he doesn't *just* want to be known at The Titanic Guy.
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