Walter Lord

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John Walter Lord, Jr. (born October 8, 1917 in Baltimore , † May 19, 2002 in Manhattan ) was an American non-fiction author . He became known through his book The Titanic Catastrophe (original title: A Night to Remember ), which is about the sinking of the Titanic .

Walter Lord's grave

Walter Lord grew up in Baltimore, Maryland , where he attended Gilman School and later studied history at Princeton University . He graduated from university in 1939 and enrolled at Yale to study law. During the Second World War he worked at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After the war he continued his studies and graduated as a lawyer.

He soon started writing and had success with a dozen books. In 1957 he wrote the book Day of Infamy about the attack on Pearl Harbor , in 1967 the book Incredible Victory about the Battle of Midway and other books about the American civil rights movement and the exploration of the polar regions. His best known, however, was the 1955 book A Night to Remember , which was filmed in 1958 under this title under the direction of Roy Ward Baker (German: The last night of the Titanic ). His book was based on the stories and experiences of nearly 60 Titanic survivors. He later wrote another book about the Titanic, the 1986 Titanic As It Really Was (The Night Lives On) .

In 1997, Walter Lord was advisor to director James Cameron while filming Titanic . He died in 2002 at the age of 84.

Works

  • The battle for Midway. Scherz 1977 ISBN 3502184178 ; Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1979 ISBN 3404010094 ; Naumann & Göbel, Cologne undated (approx. 1985) (All revised by Sends them to the bottom of the sea. ) From the English Incredible Victory 1967 v. Helmut Degner,
  • A Night to Remember, New York: Holt 1955 (via Titanic)
  • Day of Infamy, New York: Holt 1957 (via Pearl Harbor)
  • The Dawn's Early Light, New York: Norton 1972 (on the British-American War 1812)
  • The good years: from 1900 to the First World War, New York: Harper 1960
  • Lonely vigil: coastwatchers of the Solomons, Viking Press 1977
  • Miracle of Dunkirk, Viking Press 1982 ( Battle of Dunkirk )
  • Peary to the Pole, New York: Harper and Row 1963 (via Robert Edwin Peary )
  • Past that would not die, New York: Harper and Row 1965 (civil rights movement)
  • Time to stand: New York: Harper 1961 ( Battle of the Alamo )
  • Publisher: The Fremantle Diary, 1954 (Diary of British officer and Southern sympathizer Arthur Fremantle from 1863)
  • Jenna Lawrence (Editor): The Way It Was: Walter Lord on His Life and Books. Ubuildabook 2009

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lord, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American non-fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland, USA
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 2002
Place of death Manhattan , New York, USA