Caption above: Ted and a friend with the Nantucket steamer in the background.
(I'll add more photos to this post in the coming days and weeks.)
Ted Scull: A Tribute
Below we share memories of Ted, truly one-of-a-kind … both a Renaissance man and a traditionalist in many ways. He embraced life with gusto.
Ted Scull: A Tribute by Heidi Sarna
I’m still processing the loss but wanted to share some memories of my dear friend and QuirkyCruise partner, Ted Scull, who passed away earlier this week at home in NYC in his beautiful abode, on his terms, in his own bed, nestled by family heirlooms and the precious things he collected and cherished from his lifetime of travel. I know he is at peace, he was ready to go, to sail into the night one last time, to be reunited with his lovely partner Suellyn, who passed away in 2021.
I met Ted in the early 1990s in NYC when I was an editor for a travel magazine devoted to cruises — it was my first real publishing job; I was 25 and Ted was 50. Ted had recently retired from a career as a teacher at various private schools in NYC, eager to devote more time to his many other talents and interests that had been side hustles up until then — ships, trains, history, writing, photography and lecturing.
By his midlife, Ted had become a prolific freelance writer, penning travel articles for major newspapers in Canada and the US, back when newspapers travel sections were robust with many inches and dollars devoted to full length travel features with large color photos. Ted also wrote for magazines and niche book publishers. His favorite topics were mid 20th-century ocean liners and early steam-powered ferries and trains. He lectured about his travels, illustrating his talks with slides from his legendary collection, boxes upon boxes of which packed the shelves (and floor) of his large home office like tiles on a roof.
Ted on one of the more than 125 cruises he enjoyed over the years. * Photo : Ted Scull
Our Budding Friendship
In those early days, we would run into each other at press events in NYC, there were so many. Cruise lines and travel companies would host press conferences, lunches, parties and “cruises to nowhere” in and around Manhattan to share updates about new ships, itineraries, dining programs, leadership, you name it.
Ted was always warm and chatty, joyful and enthusiastic about travel, both past and present. Ted’s enthusiasm was contagious and his expertise in so many things, impressive. Wherever he was, he would hold court sharing stories about his early ship experiences — from the Nantucket steamer ferries of his childhood (his story for QuirkyCruise about those days was one of my favorites: “It All Started With A Nantucket Steamer”), to later adventures in his 20s working for Holland America in NYC and traveling whenever he could aboard cargo and passenger ships crisscrossing the globe to and from Africa, India, the Middle East, Europe and North America. He was especially attracted to Africa — he worked in Tanganyika (later known as Tanzania) as a young man — and to India, where he traveled many times throughout his life. When I married an India-born man, Arun, Ted couldn’t have been more delighted.
Ted as a young man in Alaska, where he traveled by ferry, car, plane and on foot. * Photo: Ted Scull
When I at the cruise magazine, Ted would pitch me stories about upcoming trips and I was chuffed to edit articles from such an experienced writer and world traveler who also wrote for Toronto’s Globe & Mail and the Christian Science Monitor and who was quoted in New York Times stories. Later we would work together on cruise stories for Travel Holiday magazine and write reviews for each other’s cruise guidebooks put out by Frommer’s and Globe Pequot.
We became fast friends, connected by our careers but also a shared playfulness and sunny outlook. And we also shared an emotional side. Ted was sentimental and would often have a tear in his eye when sharing a childhood story featuring his beloved mother or nanny. He felt deeply for the past and he reveled in keeping it alive.
Ted & Heidi in 2021 on a Ben cruise around Manhattan. * Photo: Friend of Heidi
The Family Connections
Over the years, we got to know each other's families. Ted’s dear wife, a sharp, witty, kind Australian headmistress for a tony NYC school, Suellyn became a friend too; we'd meet for drinks and she was at my baby shower. Speaking of babies, one of my fondest memories of Ted is strolling my twin boys at about 9 months to Central Park, where Ted met us for a playdate; he beamed with love and emotion, holding Tejas in his lap as they locked eyes. (I know I have a photo of this somewhere, still looking!! Will share it when I find it!)
We dined with Ted and Suellyn many times over the years, often on the lovely roof deck of their building on East 72nd, with Ted at the grill cooking chicken legs and sausages (always on the well done side!), and my twin sons assisting as they got into the tween years.
Ted & his assistant grilling on the roof of his building in about 2014. * Photo: Heidi Sarna
Ted met my in-laws in NYC one year for a home-cooked Indian meal at our place in the early 2000s on one of their annual visits. And about a dozen years ago, on Ted and Suellyn’s last trip to India, the two couples lunched together at the Gymkhana Club in Delhi, a classic hold-over from the British Raj days, an era Ted was drawn to. More than once, when Ted and I would meet in more recent times, when I would pass through NYC on trips to and from Singapore, where I lived for 17 years, Ted would recount that afternoon in Delhi with my in-laws, tearing up as he remembered how gracious and welcoming they were to him; he was deeply moved by encounters like this.
Ted and Suellyn were a comforting pair when I would stop at their place, with a giant suitcase or two in tow, to break journey for a few hours before the long 24-hour shlep back to Singapore after visiting my dad in Pennsylvania for a few weeks several times a year. My favorite memories of these visits were Ted and I taking a twilight walk along East End Avenue, chatting about this and that, passing the time… these walks and talks greatly relaxed and centered me.
Ted & his wife Suellyn on the Kawartha Voyageur in 1997. * Photo: Passenger
Hatching QuirkyCruise
We would of course discuss Quirky Cruise on these strolls, an idea we began discussing around 2012 or so; finally taking the plunge and launching the site in fall 2015. We had both published many travel and ship books of various kinds, but this would be our first website, a completely different beast. We were armed with enthusiasm and passion, though very little knowledge about building websites how to monetize them; that didn’t stop us! We hired a (relatively) cheap and cheerful web designer and forged ahead to create our online magazine focused exclusively on the small-ship cruise experience on vessels carrying no more than 300 passengers, a corner of the travel world we both gravitated towards and didn’t feel was getting enough exposure in many outlets. We were both were passionate about traveling without the crowds on small ships to off-beat places, to enjoy the access and up-close encounters with the natural world (think Svalbard, the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, Raja Ampat) and local culture and history (from SE Asia to the Amazon River and the canals of France, Sweden and Scotland).
While we had both traveled extensively, it was Ted who was the maritime expert; I fell into the ship world as a journalist whose first editorial job happened to be at a magazine called “Cruise & Vacation Views.” I was the accidental cruiser, while Ted grew up loving ships, traveling to Europe on luxury liners with his parents and taking classic ferries to Nantucket; he became a walking encyclopedia of conveyances by water. I was grateful to work with such an esteemed authority.
It was a huge undertaking to get QuirkyCruise off the ground, with Ted in NYC and me at that time in Singapore. We brainstormed across the 12-hour time zone, split up the work and got busy, always though, trying to have some fun along the way. Ted was tickled when I would address him in an email as “High Tee” or “Hi Tea,” quipping back with a “Dear Hi D” or a “Hello High Dee.” We were easily amused!
Creating and running our own website was immensely satisfying. And lots of work. We weren’t experts on the business side of things, so we just focused on writing and growing our reservoir of small-ship cruise reviews, working with some of the wonderful freelance writers we had met through the years. In the beginning, we were buoyed by the support of esteemed colleagues and friends like Anne Kalosh, Peter Knego, Ben Lyons and Karl Zimmermann, in more recent years, we have enjoyed working with contributing writers including John Roberts, Robin McKelvie, Gene Sloan, Cele & Lynn Seldon, Judi Cohen, Sandra & John Nowlan, Jackie Sheckler Finch, Alison Abbott, Donna Heiderstadt and Sue Bryant.
Ted and I were both thrilled to be recognized in the Lowell Thomas travel writing competition.
READ SOME OF TED'S QUIRKY STORIES: Ted was a prolific writer; here are a selection of his stories for QuirkyCruise.com. One of his most popular stories is about the world's roughest cruising regions — here.
Rest In Peace My Dear Friend
Ted’s childlike wonder, disarming nature and vast reserve of knowledge always made him a delightful shipmate, dinner companion or fellow passenger on a train. His life force radiated like a beacon. His eyes wide and ears open, Ted loved learning, he loved people, he loved connecting, he loved life. Until it finally began slipping away from him. Then he knew it was time to go.
Rest in peace my dear Mr Tea. I will never forget you and neither will any of your quirky crew.
Teddy (then) out of uniform and missing a front tooth. * Photo:: Camp counselor
Ted Scull: A Tribute by Steve Wellmeier
Where does one begin (or end) in remembering Ted Scull? I’ll sure miss him, but thankfully I have plenty of great memories.
My first conversation with Ted was in 1983 or ’84, when Clipper Cruise Line was just getting underway. I was handling PR for the new St. Louis-based competitor of American Cruise Lines' and Luther Blount’s shallow-draft ship operations along the Intracoastal Waterway. Unlike most travel writers, he knew this segment of the industry better than I and asked tough, challenging questions. After a while, I’d run out of answers and, after a pause, he'd hear a big sigh coming out of my mouth. This non-answer soon became something of a joke, and whenever we'd talk in the days since, most Friday afternoons, the first thing out of my mouth was a pronounced, drawn-out “Huuuhh…” I soon learned that Ted and I had Dayton in common. His father had been sent off from Philadelphia to the city in southwestern Ohio in the late 1930s or early 40s to open a distribution center for Scull coffee and tea, known at the time as Boscul Coffee Company. There, he first met Ted’s mother, a resident of Hamilton OH, at a dance at the Dayton Country Club.
I never met Ted until 1988 when I moved to New York City to work for TravLtips Cruise & Freighter Travel Association. He took me under his wing like I was a younger brother, and we’d often share a dinner, walk around the city until my feet hurt and, of course, talk about the cruise ship business. However, Ted didn’t have much patience for “the business;” he wanted to talk about ships and itineraries, and this usually segued into some memorable tale about his first trip in that part of the earth aboard the S.S. Whatever in 1960-something.
My new job marketing freighter cruises provided ample fodder for our conversations, which makes sense since his first job in travel was as a booking clerk for Holland American Line at their offices in lower Manhattan. In those days, HA had as many passenger routes available on cargo ships as they did on their legendary passenger liners. Here, he also met my old Clipper Cruise Line boss, Paul Duynhower.
When I introduced my soon-to-be wife, Anne Bergeron, to Ted, she automatically rated a 10 since she, like he, was a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford CT. We were frequently invited to rooftop dinners above his and Suellyn Preston-Scull's classic, antique-filled apartment on East 72nd Street, and the door to their guest room was always open after we moved to Providence RI. Fortunately, I continued to be a source of information for Ted’s insatiable curiosity about cruise ships in my subsequent jobs with INTRAV/ Clipper (second time around!), Elegant Cruises & Tours, Poseidon Expeditions, and IAATO, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
Nobody I know had the memory or the ability to tell stories from the deep well that Ted could draw from. And he told them with such enthusiasm, humor, and colorful detail. That’s what I’ll miss…
Roommates Ted and Steve all dressed up aboard the Celebrity Silhouette in 2011. * Photo: Steve Wellmeier
Ted with Paul Duynhower (right) sharing a laugh in their Holland American days. * Photo Credit: Good Question …
Ted pointing out something historically significant (no doubt!) to my wife Anne Bergeron at Christo's The Gates public art project Central Park in 2005. * Photo: Steve Wellmeier
Ted visiting Steve’s, Anne’s and Ginger's home in Providence in 2004. We also shared a love of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels; Ted brought one home with him to Philadelphia from England when he was still in college when the breed was still largely unknown in the US. * Photo: Steve Wellmeier
Ted Scull: A Tribute by Peter Knego
Long before influencers, there were genuine historians and journalists like Ted Scull, who wrote from vast experience and first hand knowledge. As a teen with a budding interest in ocean liners, I knew his byline long before I knew the man, reading with a sense of awe about his travels aboard ships great and small. He was an inspiration to me and while it admittedly took a long time to earn his respect, I am proud to have called him my friend.
Ted shares many of his stories in a series of books he wrote, “Ocean Liner Odyssey”, “Ocean Liner Twilight” and “Ocean Liner Sunset.” Through these works, you can sail aboard great legends like the QUEEN ELIZABETH and LIBERTE, less heralded liners like the ORSOVA and SA VAAL and more obscure “working” ships like the AMERICANA and ORIENTAL PEARL. In his masterful prose, he bypasses the usual rivet counting and brings the ships to life with a focus on the human side of things and actual life on board.
Ted wrote for cruise industry and travel trades, consumer magazines and newspapers, ship enthusiast publications and together with travel journalist Heidi Sarna, founded Quirkycruise.com, a website dedicated to cruising on ships that carry less than 300 passengers.
He lectured aboard ships like CANBERRA, ROTTERDAM (1959), ORIANA (1960) and QE2 and in recent years was a regular Insights presenter on the QM2. His talks were delivered with a deep knowledge of the subject without pomp and pretense and were so enriched with his observations. He lived it all.
Ted Scull aboard the SS CANBERRA of P&O Lines.
Ted Scull and friends aboard the RMS WINDSOR CASTLE arriving at Southampton in 1968.
Ted was also an avid New York-ophile and would regale visitors like me with long walks along the East and West Side, across great bridges and through Central Park, sharing historical anecdotes and fascinating architectural observations. Ted’s tours could last anywhere from a couple hours to an entire day and were usually followed with a lovely dinner with his wife Suellyn and a friend or two, either in their dual level apartment or on the roof.
His fascination with trains and even subway trains was substantial and also captivating. I recall after a flight from California, he was practically giddy while riding the AirTrain from JFK to Jamaica Station. He was also a beacon for visitors on how to best get from A to B via that often intimidating subway.
I will miss his abundant enthusiasm for all things ships, trains, travel and New York, his delight in sharing his vast knowledge, his kindred spirit and most of all, his friendship.
His passing is a huge loss to the world of ship enthusiasts and more so, of course, to his many friends.
RIP TWS and thanks for the inspiration.
“Ocean Liner Sunset,” the third in Ted's trio of books about his shipboard adventures during the golden age of travel.
Ted Scull: A Tribute by Anne Kalosh
Ted humorously taking a swig of Champagne from the bottle. * Photo: Anne Kalosh
Ted on the occasion of Queen Mary 2's first meet-up with journalist Ralph Grizzle and QM2 officer Ben Lyons. * Photo: Anne Kalosh
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HEIDI SARNA
