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| Monday dawned bright and breezy- Old Manhattan put on her best-dressed splendor to salute one of her favorite sons. We arrived at 11 a.m.- expecting a big crowd; we were not disappointed. Flags snapped briskly in the June breeze as friends from all corners inched through the wide doors of The New York Historical Society at 77th and Central Park West. Standing in the rotunda were friends from Baltimore, classmates from Yale and Princeton, assorted adopted "family" coming to remember Uncle Wally, Titanic people from all societies, his faithful nurses, battalions of admirers. I first spied Ken Marschall whom I had not seen since 1987. He said he had to be here today- I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Ed and Karen Kamuda, Charles Pelligrino, Jack Eaton, George and Matt Tulloch, Captain of Nadir, P.H. Naugeolet, ocean liner memorabilia dealers Ken Schultz and Dick Faber, officers of the Ocean Liner Museum and South Street Seaport represented the facet of Walter's life which had been Titanic. |
| We all gathered around to sign the guestbook, then drifted through the auditorium doors-beckoned by the nostalgic sound of a grand piano playing Stardust. There was a festive feeling in the air. It seemed as if we were at a cocktail party and waiting for our host. . . and in a way, we were. The man at the keyboard was Michael Sansonia, who was, as I was to learn, a devoted friend who went weekly to Walter's apartment over the last two years and played and sang all Walter's old favorites. I had not realized how musical Walter had been; loving the old standards, Bing Crosby, big bands and swing, jazz and all the Broadway showtunes. You are listening now to his all-time favorite "Brother Can you Spare a Dime?", a 1932 Depression hit. recorded by Bing. His apartment walls were lined with old LP's, some of them the glass Victrola RCA records. |
| The first speaker was Ken Jackson from the N.Y. Historical Society who offered words of praise to the man "who made the Past come alive" for so many and who had been a trustee since 1966 as well as president of the American Historians Society. William Zinsser was the next speaker who fondly recalled the bowls of chowder shared with Walter, the endless yellow legal pads Walter used for writing his manuscripts, and many hours of music enjoyed at the apartment. He told the story of how once, when Walter faced some dangerous surgery, he phoned Bill and said "If anything should go wrong and I don't make it, I should like a memorial -sometime near my birthday in October, maybe with a piano and a group of friends at some small room, perhaps at Princeton. Chairs should be set about just casually and after Father Cahusac says a few words, you could maybe sing all the old standards." Such a tribute IS being planned at Princeton this October, and today's memorial felt very much like something Walter would have approved. The Rev. Canon Sidney Woodd-Cahusac did give a "few words" as next speaker. He rose from his wheelchair with great determination and slowly climbed to the podium onstage, dressed in his clericals. He shared with us Walter's courageous battle against the disease with which he struggled daily in these last years. and recalled a photograph at the apartment of a young,vigorous Walter running a footrace-and the cruel irony which would place him in a wheelchair for so many years later. He told the story of how when the "boys" at college found themselves all on the same floor in the dormitory, Walter declared it to be "Boys Town" and himself Father Flannagan! |
| Edward de Groot came from Holland to tell of the war years, when Walter worked for the OSS- how he loved Mayfair, knew how to get around on the Paris Metro, and sleuthed out the best food in the not-so-top-secret officer's diningroom. He retained a lifelong disdain for boiled Brussel sprouts ever after. Later Walter encouraged and assisted de Groot in the production of film documentaries. I had not known Walter collected WWI sheet music, had written the lyrics for "The Third Man", and had quite a collection of political campaign buttons. Longtime friend Marshall Hornblower told of the annual Christmas visit from Uncle Walter, the trips to places faraway (Antigua was not a success but the monkeys in Gibralter were a hit) and the warmth of sharing his children and home with his friend. After this salute, we all rose to our feet to sing "OLD NASSAU"- the Princeton song- it was led by a group of the Old Boys -and yes, a few misty eyes were in evidence. |
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| At the helm of QE2 |
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| With new friends in the Solomons |