CHAT with Mac Smith: Mainers on the Titanic

This event is part of our CHATS with Champions speaker series. They are free and open to the public in Skidompha’s Porter Hall. Please allow time for parking.

Mac Smith: Mainers on the Titanic 

Tuesday, April 16th – 10 am

The story of the “Unsinkable” Titanic has been told in books, movies, and song. The New York-bound ship left England on its maiden voyage on April 11, 1912, struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM on April 14, and sank two hours and 40 minutes later. Over 1,500 of the 2,224 people on board died, making it the worst peacetime naval disaster in history.

What makes Mac Smith’s story unique is that he focuses on Mainers who were involved in the tragedy. Many were wealthy travelers who summered in Bar Harbor, but other Mainers were aboard as well. Smith began his research by examining local newspapers to find the stories behind the names of Mainers on the ship, and he has worked to bring their stories to life. He also covers the agonizing experience of people waiting to hear whether their loved ones survived or perished. His resulting book is full of details and quotations yet it is very readable. Nothing inMainers on the Titanic, published by Down East Press, is fabricated.

Smith was born on the coast of Maine, along the Penobscot River, and has lived in Sandy Point, a village in Stockton Springs, all his life, except for years spent in the U.S. Navy. He is a veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He is the youngest of five boys, born to a father who was a paper mill worker and a mother who was a housewife active in her community. Today he lives in the old family homestead which is over 150 years old and works at the same high school he attended. Currently, he is working on a second book about a different slice of Maine history.

Copies of Mac Smith’s book Mainers on the Titanic will be available for sale after the talk.