I cannot begin to adequately explain this magnificent obsession of mine with the great transatlantic ocean liners of the past century.  Is it an aesthetic appreciation for the beauty of the machine age when form flattered function, or a deeper more nostalgic longing for a time when men didn't think twice about putting on a tuxedo? I don't know.  The only certainty is that my first love was the Ile de France, even if I didn't know it at the time.  At the age of eight or so, I thought this magnificent vessel was the ill-fated Claridon, the ship whose boiler explosion leads to her demise in a film I happened to see one night with my family on NBC Saturday Night At The Movies..  That film was, of course, The Last Voyage. Even as a small boy I didn't care about the plot, I was simply fascinated by those gorgeous interiors of wood and artwork being so carelessly and heart-breakingly destroyed as I sat on our den floor in front of a tiny black and white television with my jaw on the floor.  In high school, The Poseidon Adventure converted me forever into a hardcore ship geek, with the same appreciation for deco and grand luxe that had been inspired by the final hours of the Claridon.  I became obsessed with Posiedon and paid full ticket prices to see it twelve times while it was playing in the theater (this being in the days before VCRs!), and even made my own very crude stop-action animation version of a similar film, Tragedy Aboard the SS Zeus, using my parents' 8mm Brownie camera and a cast that included G.I. Joe, Captain Action, my sister's Barbies and Kens, and when I ran out of female dolls, one of the women characters is portrayed by a Ken doll in drag!  The film is awful, but stands as a testament to the depth of my addiction!  Eventually, I'll have this film available on my site in Quicktime format, accessible by clicking on the poster for the movie above! 

My first transatlantic onboard QE2, April, 1998

Aboard the historic tandem crossing with the QM2 sailing alongside,  May, 2004.

With Susan Gibbs and Greg Norris in front of my beloved SS United States, May 2004.

As my obsession continued to grow, I read A Night To Remember and went through a brief period where I was convinced I had lived in a previous life and perished aboard the ill-fated Titanic (a not so uncommon experience I have learned).  But the aesthetics of that doomed liner didn't especially appeal to me, and I was continually drawn to the ships of later eras -- specifically, the 1920s through the 1960s.  I started seriously collecting liner memorabilia around 1990 with the acquisition of my first major piece, a large carpet section from the Queen Mary -- bought from a wonderful deco dealer here in Los Angeles.  The carpet is still one of the prized pieces of my collection, and fit perfectly in the den of my new home.  Since then, I have been collecting all manner of ship memorabilia which is featured on this site on the Liner Collectibles pages.  I hope you'll enjoy touring my eclectic assemblage of the flotsam and jetsam left in the wake of the great transatlantic liner era of the last century.  From there, the collection simply grew by leaps and bounds, and when I discovered eBay, all bets were off!  My home, built in 1938 in the streamline moderne style, is the perfect gallery to showcase the furniture, rugs, signage, posters, paintings, and whatever else fits this nautical aesthetic.  The pervasive part of the whole liner thing that attracts is me is not the engineering of the ships or the horsepower or technical aspects, it's rather the lifestyle of a bygone era which only exists now on ships like my beloved Queen Elizabeth 2.  There is a feeling when you're crossing the ocean on a beautifully appointed ship, dining with strangers who soon become fast friends, and enjoying the beauty and power of the North Atlantic.  Sadly, I never had the chance to sail on any of the classics.  Growing up in a land-locked suburb of Atlanta, the closest I got was watching movies that were either shot on or took place aboard liners both real and fictional.  I was born in 1958, the year that heralded the end of two things I love  -- ocean liners and 78 rpm records.  With the first commercial transatlantic jet flight that year, and the introduction of the long play record, these two loves were gradually relegated to the dust bin of cultural history and kept alive only by like-minded enthusiasts.  Another great thing about this hobby is the amazing group of friends I've made.  This is why I started shipgeek.com, to share my love of ships and the wonderful artifacts I've been lucky enough to acquire.  Look around, email me your thoughts and feedback, and above all, enjoy your voyage aboard the SS Shipgeek.  Bon voyage! 

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