Robert Abbott Quotes

If I haven't done badly, it's because I've become indispensable to too many like David Abbott. I have in my head a thousand facts they couldn't possibly recall. It's simply easier for them to place me where the questions are, where problems need solutions. (Alfred Gillette)

No greater glory, no greater honor, is the lot of man departing than a feeling possessed deep in his heart that the world is a better place for his having lived

Bury Me Deep, Megan Abbott Red Baker, Robert Ward Ghost Story, Peter Straub The Getaway, Jim Thompson The Godfather, Mario Puzo Suggested Viewing Misery (1990) The King of Comedy (1982) A Place in the Sun (1951) I Want to Live! (1958) The Wire, season 2

Alexander McCall Smith, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, Robert Crais, C. J. Box, Diane Mott Davidson, James Lee Burke, and Laura Lippman, but there were also fresh names, wonderful writers all, Mary Saums, Dorothy Howell, David Fuller, Charles Finch, Megan Abbott, Christopher Fowler, Patricia Briggs, Deanna Raybourn, and Donis Casey.

Abbott Security had

I should have known what might happen. I should have understood better what Robert had been telling me in everything but words. It’s now three hours since he left with my babies, and every bone and muscle in my body is aching with their loss.

Construction of the SS Morro Castle was begun by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in January of 1929 for the New York and Cuba Mail Steam Ship Company, better known as the Ward Line. The ship was launched in March of 1930, followed in May by the construction of her sister ship the SS Oriente. Both ships were 508 feet long and had a breath of almost 80 feet and weighed in at 11,520 gross tons (GRT). The ships were driven by General Electric turbo generators, which supplied the necessary electrical current to two propulsion motors. Having twin screws both ships could maintain a cruising speed of 20 knots. State of the art, each ship was elegantly fitted out to accommodate 489 passengers and had a complement of 240 officers and crew. It is estimated that the ships cost approximately $5 million each, of which 75% was given to the company as a low cost government loan to be repaid over twenty years. The SS Morro Castle was named for the fortress that guards the entrance to Havana Bay. On the evening of September 5, 1934 Captain Robert Willmott had his dinner delivered to his quarters. Shortly thereafter, he complained of stomach trouble and shortly after that, died of an apparent heart attack. With this twist of fate the command of the ship went to the Chief Mate, William Warms. During the overnight hours, with winds increasing to over 30 miles per hour, the ship continued along the Atlantic coast towards New York harbor. Early on September 8, 1934 the ship had what started as a minor fire in a storage locker. With the increasing winds, the fire quickly intensified causing the ship to burn down to the waterline, killing a total of 137 passengers and crew members. Many passengers died when they jumped into the water with the cork life preservers breaking their necks and killing them instantly on impact. Only half of the ships 12 lifeboats were launched and then losing power the ship drifted, with heavy onshore winds and a raging sea the hapless ship ground ashore near Asbury Park. Hard aground she remained there for several months as a morbid tourist attraction. On March 14, 1935 the ship was towed to Gravesend Bay, New York and then to Baltimore, MD, where she was scrapped. The Chief Mate Robert Warms and Chief Engineer Eban Abbott as well as the Ward Line vice-president Henry Cabaud were eventually indicted on various charges, including willful negligence. All three were convicted and sent to jail, however later an appeals court later overturned the ship’s officers convictions and instead placed much of the blame on the dead Captain Willmott. Go figure….

In the engine-room log he noted the closing down of number three boiler. Eban Abbott took the elevator back to his cabin, washed, and dressed. Only after completing his toilet did he set out to discover why Captain Wilmott had not replied. It was exactly 7:45 P.M. when he stepped out of his cabin. Moments later First Officer William Warms stood in the captain’s night cabin, shocked and horrified. Slumped over the side of the bath, half dressed, lay the body of Robert Wilmott, his eyes open, but obviously dead.

The years since Dan haven’t all been bad, but in the brief time I had with him I felt as if my spirit was alive – as if bubbles were effervescing inside me. I sparkled. With Robert there were never bubbles, but I was content to settle for stillness. After Dan and then what happened with my parents, serenity and calm seemed to be just what I needed, but as the years passed I started to realise that it wasn’t enough. And that was before I understood it all – before I knew the reason I had lost Dan.

why he thinks Scott Roberts is dead. Also,

Defender was the black newspaper feared most by white Georgians. Its editor, Robert Abbott, was a native Georgian who campaigned furiously for blacks to leave the South, and filled his papers with white-on-black southern crime.

It’s been hard to maintain the outward image of the old me for Robert’s sake while simultaneously

Don’t spend all this pretty day inside a book. As much as I love them, there’s life to be lived.” “Mrs. Abbott?” “Yes?” “Who do you think planted the seeds at the Pagan Stone?” “Gods and demons.” Estelle’s eyes were tired, but clear. “Gods and demons, and there’s such a thin line between the two, isn’t there?