Description
by John “Jack” B. Thayer
A truly vivid picture of what happened on the fateful night of April 14-15 1912 by a young man in first class who was accompanying his parents back to Philadelphia. His father, John Borland Thayer, Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad lost his life in the sinking. His mother, Marian Longstreth Morris and her maid, Margaret Fleming, along with Jack, survived. Jack Thayer’s experiences on board are described in minute detail; the prominent people who often were with his father, the near collision with the New York, the last evening onboard where he met a man about his age, Milton Long of Springfield, Massachusetts. Getting out of bed at the time of the collision with the iceberg, which felt like a gentle push, putting an overcoat over his pajamas and going to the lounge to inquire what happened — they passed ship’s officers, Mr. Ismay and Mr. Andrews who told him the unbelievable news that the Titanic had about an hour to live. Milton Long came by at the time and asked if he could stay with them. Thayer’s gripping minute-by-minute account of passenger and crew activity, separation from his parents, watching the last lifeboat leave, to awaiting the end and survive, gave him a new perspective of life: “To my mind the world of today awoke April 15th, 1912.”
34 pages. Illustrated. Softback.
