"Titanic Teacher"

Our January 2008 meeting was in memory of our late President F John Parkinson who was born on the 7th of the month in 1907. John died in March 2006. It is our intention to have a Parkinson memorial lecture every January.

This year we were shown a very special DVD, complied by a dear friend & past pupil of the great man himself, Joseph Cohen. " Titanic Teacher" was very comprehensive record of John's contributions to the field of Education here. It was produced as a surprise when he became the oldest ex-teacher in Dunlambert School in Belfast. As Joe said, it would be impossible to talk about John Parkinson without mentioning Titanic, no matter which sphere of John's long and fruitful life was being discussed. The meeting was attended by one of John's sons, Ivan. David and Alan sent apologies. Another very special guest was the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Jim Rogers who had himself been a pupil of John's. It was lovely to see John, so full of life and speaking with that unique 'gravely voice’... a voice that was still able to keep us enthralled even though it's owner is no longer with us. The DVD included interviews with men whose lives had been influenced, as young boys, by John. He was a natural teacher, always patient and good humoured, sometimes even using Polly the wooden parrot to get a message across! He always referred to the Titanic with pride as we all know. He was indeed " A Man to Remember"

After the break, members were shown plans for the construction of a sailing ship “The Belfast", possibly in time for the centenary in 2012. These were put forward by Arthur Acheson and Anthony Smyth who have promised to keep us up to date with any developments. We were also told about the Titanic Memorial Crossing, a cruise which will take passengers to the waters above the wreck on the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

The next meeting will be given by Charlie Warmington, Lagan Legacy with his intriguing title “Titanic  ... an instrument of mass distraction"

Photo below shows Joseph Cohen, Belfast Lord Mayor Jim Rogers, Society President John Andrews, Chairman Una Reilly.