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As a child Julie Hedgepeth Williams listened to her great-uncle tell the firsthand account of his family’s experience as missionaries aboard the Titanic.  She relished the historic mystery.  But it wasn’t always that way.

“I was originally scared when I heard I had a relative on the Titanic. Once, when a Titanic movie came on TV, I pretended I wasn’t interested so I could watch it from another room and hide my eyes as needed,” Williams said.  “But when we moved nearer to Uncle Al, as I called him, I loved hearing the Titanic story from him and took great pride in his story.”  

Thrilled with her interest in the story, Al willingly shared Titanic memorabilia with Williams and her sisters, including a magazine displaying Titanic art.

“One of the pictures showed the figure of Death camouflaged in the clouds, wringing its hands over the Titanic. I screamed when I saw Death in the clouds, but after that I was fascinated with the picture and would steal glances at it when I could.”

Saturday marks the centennial of the Titanic’s sinking, and Williams’ new book, A Rare Titanic Family: The Caldwells’ Story of Survival, captures the humanity in the family’s fight for life 100 years ago.

Williams’ writing transcends time, putting readers on the Titanic with Al, Sylvia and their baby boy, Alden, as they fled around the world. Readers experience the suffering they felt as they listened to wails of other passengers who died in the freezing waters that night.  She brings her readers to same realizations Al had, the realization that his entire family’s survival was a rarity, the realization their lives were spared because of a chance encounter. Using her uncanny ability to weave historical detail and beautiful narrative together, Williams takes readers on an unforgettable journey.

While trying to uncover the history behind the story, Williams admits her fascination resulted in a personal cat-and-mouse chase around the world.

“Some of the small details I found were shocking, and even though I knew the story, it was still a journey of discovery,” Williams said.  “When I began researching the book, I became fascinated with the fact that the Caldwells were fleeing around the world, with their employer in pursuit. I was shocked and fascinated by the mysterious, scandalous angle.”

Now the Alabama author’s addition to the record of Titanic’s legendary voyage not only honors the ship’s centennial but creates a piece of history to fascinate future generations the same way Al’s story fascinated her as a child.

If Al was alive today, Williams believes he would be pleased with they way she recounts his story.  “Albert always said Walter Lord’s ‘A Night to Remember’ was the most accurate book on the Titanic. I like to think that now he’d think mine held that place!”

Julie Williams is also the author of Wings of Opportunity: The Wright Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama, 1910 (NewSouth Books 2010). She also teaches at Samford University.  For more information about her work, visit her website: sites-google.com/site/raretitanicfamily, Facebook: A Rare Titanic Family or contact NewSouth Books: 334-834-3556.