About the author
The author and website designer, Dan Parkes, is based in Brighton, United Kingdom. He has been researching the Titanic and especially the ship's officers, since the late 1980s when his interest began with the building of a large scale cardboard model of the ship. Since then he has formed a large collection of books and memorabilia.
After the release of James Cameron's film in 1997 he took a particular interest in the controversy surrounding the portrayal of First Officer William Murdoch and decided to launch an impartial investigation into his life and the mystery surrounding his death. Despite his initial reservations that the shooting and suicide were most likely simply rumour and speculation he was surprised to discover the scope of the testimony and evidence, and in reponse to some emotional statements made by researchers and media alike decided to release his information in the form of a mongraph in the year 2000. This was later made into a simple website that has now been redesigned and updated with the latest information.
In February 2025 he released his first book based on new information he discovered about the life and legacy of Captain E.J. Smith. Entitled "Titanic Legacy: The Captain, the Daughter and the Spy" the 416 page book (with 130 images) was published by Amberley Publishing and after widespread media coverage the first edition hardcover sold out in May 2025. A second edition was released shortly thereafter and was voted the Best Book of 2025 by the Titanic Book Club.
In his day job he is a camera operator/Director of Photography and alternatively can be contacted via his website here now to find out more.