Book review: The Titanic's Last Hero by Moody Adams

On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I read a post on a blog telling a story about that night which I had never heard before:

As the Titanic was sinking, Pastor [John] Harper was heard shouting, “Women, children, and unsaved into the lifeboats!” And as the Titanic began to break in two, many persons jumped into the icy water, including Pastor Harper. Before the hypothermia became fatal, Pastor Harper swam frantically to people pleading with them to believe in the Lord Jesus so that they could be saved in accordance with Acts 16:31. Pastor Harper swam to one young man and asked him, “Are you saved?” The young man replied that he was not. Pastor Harper tried to lead the young man to Jesus Christ, but the young man was near shock. Pastor Harper then took off his life preserver and threw it to the young man, saying, “Here then, you need this more than I do!” He then swam away to other people, but several minutes later, Reverend Harper returned to the young man and succeeded in leading him to Christ’s salvation. Of the more than 1,500 persons who went into the icy waters that tragic night, only six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man, who was floating on debris. Four years later, at a Titanic survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears told how Pastor Harper had led him to Jesus Christ. He further told how Pastor Harper tried to help others, but because of the intense cold, he eventually grew too weak to swim. His last words before he sank beneath the waves were “Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Well, you know how reliable things can be that you read on the internet, so I decided to look into it. That led me to the twenty-eighth book I read in 2016, The Titanic's Last Hero by Moody Adams.

First off, calling it a "book" is a bit of a stretch.  It's more of a glorified pamphlet that was put together by John Harper's church as a memorial.  The first chapter, twelve pages, tells the story of what happened that night on the Titanic, and the second, thirteen pages, gives a biographical sketch of Harper's life before he got on the boat.  These are followed by several testimonials by people who knew Harper, a poem, and four surviving sermon outlines Harper prepared.

So is the story true?  We have only the word of the man who was rescued from the water, who told his story four years later and didn't leave his name to history.  I'd rather see a movie about John Harper than Jack and Rose, though.