Boston Globe Bumps Bottom

They have with me, anyway. They are as far down as the Titanic. 

"Titanic survivor’s letter set for auction" by Associated Press  |  October 8, 2010

LONDON — She heard a terrible rumbling noise, then anguished cries for help as her rowboat pulled away from the sinking ocean liner Titanic that dreadful night in 1912.

Now Laura Francatelli’s first-person account of the disaster, in the form of a signed affidavit that was given to a British board of inquiry, is set to be auctioned.

It is a gripping firsthand account of how she and her two prominent employers — Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his socialite wife, Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon — managed to survive, fleeing in a rowboat with a capacity for 40 people even though they only had 12 people on board.

“You see a lot of documents that talk briefly about the incident, but this affidavit goes into strong details, it talks about Lady Duff being sick the whole time, about the lifeboat bobbing up and down, about the screams,’’ said Andrew Aldridge, an auctioneer at Henry Aldridge & Son, which plans to sell the affidavit and other Titanic memorabilia on Oct. 16.... 
 

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"Titanic survivor’s affidavit auctioned

LONDON — A first-person account of the sinking of the Titanic fetched $32,000 yesterday in a British auction. The affidavit signed by Laura Francatelli, who got away in a lifeboat with her two prominent employers, easily topped its presale estimate of $24,000. It was bought by an anonymous collector from Eastern Europe. The most expensive item in yesterday’s sale was a poster of Titanic that went for $96,000 to an anonymous US collector (AP)." 

The one time I wam glad to go back to Titanic:

"Gloria Stuart, 100; nominated for Oscar for role in 'Titanic'" by Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg News  |  September 28, 2010

WASHINGTON — Gloria Stuart, who became the oldest person nominated for an Academy Award for her role in “Titanic,’’ the record-breaking box-office hit, has died. She was 100.

She died Sunday at her home in West Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing her family. She was diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago, the newspaper said.

Ms. Stuart was 87 when director James Cameron’s epic fictional account of passengers aboard the doomed luxury liner Titanic, opened in December 1997. The movie followed Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they met, fell in love, navigated the Titanic’s strict class divisions, and then tried to survive after the ship struck an iceberg.   

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Well, that wasn't the one I got, war media.

Ms. Stuart narrates the movie as 101-year-old Rose, who joins treasure hunters searching the Titanic’s wreckage for a legendary diamond necklace. Toward the film’s end, she reveals the necklace she has secretly possessed since the night the ship sank and drops it into the ocean.  

After which she passes away and her spirit returns to Titanic to join all the other lost souls. Not a dry eye leaving the place.

The movie earned $1.8 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Ms. Stuart earned one of the movie’s 14 Academy Award nominations, for best supporting actress. It won 11 Oscars, including one for best picture.... 

She lost the Oscar to Kim Basinger....

According to her 1999 memoir, “I Just Kept Hoping,’’ she wrote:

“Old Rose in the ‘Titanic’ script grabbed me instantly. I knew that evening the role I wanted and waited for all these many years had arrived!’’

Politically active, Ms. Stuart was an early member of the Screen Actors Guild, formed in 1933, and helped start the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League in 1936. 

I'm surprised she was passed over for parts.

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Now I am really surprised!  

WOW!


Stardom eluded the elegant Gloria Stuart in the 1930s, when she was the leading lady in dozens of movies. (Warner Brothers)

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No Lifeboat for Titanic Survivor
  
Titanic on Tonight
  
Remains From the Day

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That is in the other direction.  Nowhere else to head.