Sean Hamill has published a wonderful article about the Delta Queen and the Save the Delta Queen Campaign in The New York Times ("A Riverboat Could Be Cruising to the End of the Line") which also showed up worldwide in the International Herald Tribune. The beautiful pictures in the article are from Nicole Bengiveno and where taken especially for this article just a few weeks ago when the Delta Queen cruised the Cumberland River.
The author of the Article, Sean Hamill, lives in Pittsburgh, PA, and grew up along the Ohio River, knowing the Delta Queen since he was a kid. He sums up the actual situation perfectly and I like the positive attitude of the article – other than a relatively pessimistic article by Jane Engle in the Los Angeles Times which of course is great anyway as it at least raises attention to their readers but doesn’t help much in supporting the Save the Delta Queen campaign directly.
Sean, I love your very positive article in the New York Times!
Another very positive turn comes from Majestic America Line: According to Modern Agent Ambassador’s vice president-corporate development, Joseph McCarthy, said they are now "100 percent supportive and will do whatever we can to get it [the exemption bill] through." My comment: That’s wonderful, no matter whether Majestic America Line officials really have changed their minds or whether they just recognized that the campaign is gaining enough momentum to possible being successful and Majestic America Line might suffer from not supporting the campaign. As soon as the DQ’s owner really supports the efforts to get the exemption and is giving up its dormant and passive position, this alone helps tremendously.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I just read the NYTimes article. I lend my voice of support to the grassroots effort to obtain the required exemption for the Delta Queen. We’ve lost far too many of our historic structures and artifacts in this country and union politics should not claim the Delta Queen as well.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I am one of the many people who worked on the Delta Queen as a youth. It was a experience I always charish. As a Cincinnati boy, I grew up to the whistle of the “DQ” when she entered port here in town. One day when in my early twenties I took the bus to the public landing and walked onto this proud vessel looking for the Captain or First Mate to ask for a job. First Mate Gabe Shingary hired me on the spot as a deck hand. From there it’s history. I went on to become the “Lubrication Engineer”, commonly referred to as an “Oiler”. My friends came down to the landing after I returned from my first trip to the Kentucky Derby. It was terrific, me, my old friends, and a boatload of new friends headed for New Orleans as “Rivermen”. Since that time I’ve always recommended to young people to go down and get a job on the DQ. It’s a great way to see the nation and experience what so few folks ever get a chance to see. To retire this wonderful living monument because of a bureaucratic hiccup in the law would be a crime to the American people and spirit. Long live the Delta Queen, America’s last overnight passenger steamboat!
James Osher