Walter Lord (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, best known for his documentary-style non-fiction account A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... See also A Night to Remember (album) for the Cyndi Lauper album by this name. ... For other uses, see Titanic. ...

Lord was born in Baltimore, Maryland to John Walterhouse and Henrietta Hoffman. His father was a lawyer who died when Walter was just 3 years old. Following high school at Baltimore's Gilman School, he studied history at Princeton University, graduating in 1939. Lord then enrolled at Yale Law School, interrupting his studies to join the Army after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services as a code clerk in London in 1942. He was the agency's secretariat when the war ended in 1945. Afterwards, Lord returned to Yale where he earned a degree in law. Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town[1][2], B-more Motto: The Greatest City in America,[3] Get in on it. ... Gilman School, originally named The Country School for Boys, is a private school founded in 1897 and located in Baltimore, Maryland. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... The Sterling Law Building Sculptural ornamentation on the Sterling Law Building Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Husband Kimmel (USN), Walter Short (USA) Chuichi Nagumo (IJN), Mitsuo Fuchida (IJNAS), Shigekazu Shimazaki (IJNAS) Strength 8 battleships, 8 cruisers, 29 destroyers, 9 submarines, ~50 other ships, ~390 planes 6 aircraft carriers, 9 destroyers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 8... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was a lineage precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as for the Special Forces and Navy Seals, who have traced their lineage back to... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

While Lord wrote a dozen successful books on such subjects as Pearl Harbor (Day of Infamy, 1957), the Battle of Midway (Incredible Victory, 1967), the Battle of the Alamo, polar exploration and the civil rights struggle, he was best known for his best-selling 1955 book A Night to Remember about the sinking of the Titanic. It was made into a popular 1958 British movie of the same name. In writing A Night to Remember, Lord took the time to track down nearly 60 Titanic survivors to get their stories. He also wrote another book about the Titanic titled The Night Lives On, published in 1986. Satellite image of Pearl Harbor. ... Template:Infobox Military Conflicts The Battle of Midway was a pivotal naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It took place from June 4 to June 7, 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, about two months after the Japanese capture of Wake... Combatants Republic of Mexico Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas Commanders Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón William Travis† Jim Bowie† Davy Crockett† Strength 6,000 in attack {1,800 in assault-see below} 183 to 250 Casualties 370 to 600 total 70 to 200...

Shortly after going to work as a copywriter for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York, Mr. Lord published The Fremantle Diary, edited and annotated from the journals of a British officer and Confederate sympathizer who toured the South for three months in 1863. It was a mild but surprising success in 1954, when Mr. Lord was well into completing A Night to Remember. Using techniques learned in researching tax issues, he tracked down some sixty survivors and turned their stories into a dramatic, minute-by-minute account of Titanic 's maiden voyage.

In later years, he was a frequent lecturer at meetings of the Titanic Historical Society. Formed in 1963, the Titanic Historical Society, Inc. ...

In 1997, Lord served as a consultant to director James Cameron during the filming of the movie Titanic. The 'sequel' to Titanic, Ghosts of the Abyss is dedicated to Lord's memory. For other persons named James Cameron, see James Cameron (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 documentary made by filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic. ...

Lord was a lifelong bachelor and died after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease at his Manhattan home at age 84.

Noted historian David McCullough said of Lord at his death, "He was one of the most generous and kind-hearted men I've ever known, and when I had stars in my eyes and wanted to become a writer, he was a great help. I'll always be indebted to him."^[1] David McCullough (mÉ™-kÅ­lÉ™) (born July 7, 1933) is an American historian and bestselling author. ...

Walter Lord is buried in the Lord family plot at historic Greenmount Cemetary in Baltimore, marked by a marble bench listing the books he authored.

Reference

1. ^ Frederick Rasmussen, "Baltimore-born author dies, wrote classic Titanic book", Baltimore Sun, May 21, 2002.

External links

• Tribute by the Titanic Historical Society