By Mark B. Perry (Screenwriter & Novelist) There was no picture to accompany the Swann listing, just this tantalizing description: 419 • (UNITED STATES LINES.) United States. Small piece of a larger aluminum wall decoration designed by Purvis [sic]. Rather phallic looking piece of aluminum which was at one time a part of a much larger wall sculpture or decoration, 5×9 inches greatest dimensions: on a wooden mount with the label “Presented to the High Potentate of K. the B.B.”

By Mark B. Perry (Screenwriter & Novelist) If you’ve read my novel "And Introducing Dexter Gaines," you’ve probably guessed I have an obsession with ocean liners, with my favorite ship, the SS UNITED STATES, having a star turn as the maiden voyage setting for a rather significant plot point. This fascination started when I was around eight-years-old thanks to a chance viewing of the 1960 disaster film, "The Last Voyage," which was shot entirely aboard the very real 1920s era