Titanic books
Eva Hart was seven when tragedy struck. In 1912 RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, hit an iceberg. A mighty ship, no problem. But they were wrong. In short order down she went. A broken-backed wreck. The pride of Britain. Too few lifeboats. Who thought they would need them?
Well, who would have thought it? Eva Hart’s mother for one. She and her husband were emigrating from London to Canada. Second Class on the mighty new ship. Her mother was terrified. She had a presentiment that disaster awaited them. She stayed in her cabin with Eva. Then the bump. No more than that. Then the list, the sirens, the mayhem, the scramble for life.
Escape
Led by her father, Eva and her mother made for the lifeboats, already heaving with frantic passengers. Mother and daughter waved goodbye. Her father stayed. They never saw him again. They watched the great vessel break her back and disappear quickly from sight.
Eva and her mother returned to England rescued on The Carpathia. North London became Eva’s lifelong home. She died at 91 after a good fulfilling life. Her mother’s mental health was ruined.
Eva and publishing
As a survivor, Eva was in demand. For books, magazines and newspaper articles. She could never escape the weird fame of survival. All her life she reminisced and gave interviews. I published a book about the disaster and the White Star Line. I got to know Eva in the 1980s. A perky, vibrant, twinkly-eyed woman trying to engage with yet another publisher buying her lunches and raking over her memories. Truth be told, she did not object.
The word titanic
As editors or proofreaders we see the word and marvel.
A titanic struggle, a titanic endeavour, a titanic achievement, a titanic victory. Titanic now simply means huge, vast or monumental. The context is usually positive. There is no hint of the disaster which popularised the word.
