Frank Goldsmith was a nine-year-old boy emigrating from England to Detroit with his father and mother. Also traveling with the family was 16-year-old Alfred Rush and Thomas Theobald, a fellow worker with Mr. Goldsmith. Booking third class passage on the new Titanic, they all were looking forward to starting over in the United States. When Titanic struck an iceberg, the order of women and children first into the lifeboats meant Frank’s father, Tom Theobald, and even Alfred Rush stayed behind and lost their lives in the sinking leaving Frank with only his mother to pick up the pieces and start over.
The loss of his dad, his friend and his dad’s friend was seared in the little boy’s memory and Frank wrote about his experiences in the 1960s. He tried to sell his story to publishers who turned him down, there wasn’t interest in the Titanic story at the time. Through Walter Lord, Frank was introduced to the Titanic Historical Society (THS) that welcomed Frank as they welcomed many other Titanic survivors into the organization. The THS publicized Frank to its worldwide membership through its journal, The Titanic Commutator. Frank died in 1982. His widow, Victoria gave his story to the Titanic Historical Society to publish and Karen Kamuda brought Frank’s story to life by editing, annotating and naming the book, “Titanic Eyewitness, My Story.”
Not only does this book contain Frank’s experiences but it also is greatly enhanced with period photos and vintage postcards from Frank and his mother’s collection purchased by the THS; survivor biographies––other Titanic widows whom Mrs. Goldsmith networked with as she and they worked hard to get established in the United States; the Samson story, the “mystery ship” connected with Titanic and SS Californian that Frank researched and closing the chapter on Frank’s life when the International Ice Patrol scattered his ashes over Titanic’s wreck so that he could rejoin with his father.
The Foreword was written by Walter Lord; Preface by Donald Lynch, THS Historian; and Introduction by Edward Kamuda, THS President
1. Chapters: Strood
2. “At last we are on the ‘lantic”
3. Boys on Board
4. 4. Sunday Night
5. “So long, Frankie, I’ll see you later”
6. The Last Lifeboat
7. “Oh, it’s going to float!”
8. Carpathia and Sam
9. A Bombay Oyster
10. Starting Over
11. Mother’s Network of Titanic Survivors
12. The Salvation Army and Titanic Relief Funds
13. The Red Cross
14. Thomas Leonard Theobald
15. New York American Titanic Relief Fund
16. Financial Assistance for Survivors
17. Survivors and Friends Network
18. Hands Across the Sea
19. S.S. Californian
20. Samson and Henrik Naess
21. Walter Lord and the Titanic Historical Society
22. U.S. Coast Guard International Ice Patrol
Epilogue: Frank Goldsmith, Emily Goldsmith Illman, Emily’s Album
Hardcover with dust jacket. Lavishly illustrated with color illustrations and original photos, this book will appeal to children and adults. Hardcover, large format 8.5 X 12 inches, 144 pages.
