Jean Seward Uppman of Manhattan, whose uncle, Frederic K. Seward, dined at the same table as Stead on the Titanic.

She said her uncle, who survived the sinking, later told her that Stead entertained their table with stories throughout the journey, but refused to tell one particular tale, saying that whenever he told it, something tragic happened. It was on the night that he finally relented, April 14, 1912, that the Titanic struck an iceberg and went down, taking more than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers with it.

Seward made it onto a lifeboat and lived to tell his story to his niece when she was 13.