Library program to focus on Titanic survivors

GAYLORD — Lives were dramatically changed among those who survived the sinking of the Titanic and at 6 p.m. on May 16 at the Otsego County Library in Gaylord, David Kaplan, noted Titanic observer, will present the biographies of six survivors of the disaster.

Kaplan will look at four passengers and two crew members. He will tell of their early years, their reasons for traveling on the famed ship and how they spent their five days aboard, and ending with how the individuals adapted to their normal lives after finally reaching New York City.

Kaplan’s interest in the Titanic began when he was nine years old while watching the 1953 movie “Titanic” starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Wagner. From that point on, he has been studying the tragedy, the ship and its passengers.

Kaplan has been a member of the Titanic Historical Society for over four decades and subsequently joined the Titanic International Society and the Titanic Society of Atlantic Canada. Over that time, he has been lucky to meet 18 survivors, including Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the tragedy. In addition, he made a visit to the ship’s sinking location in the North Atlantic Ocean where the IMAX movie “Titanica” was filmed.

This program will take place in the library’s second-floor meeting room. For more information, contact Mariah Hoover at the Otsego County Library at (989) 732-5841 or visit the library website.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Otsego County Library program to focus on Titanic survivors