We sailed out of New York Harbor while the Verrazano-Narrows bridge was still under construction. The workers waved to us as we passed underneath, and we waved back. I was bound for Southampton -- the first leg of my trip to India on a Fullbright fellowship. I shared a cabin with two other Fullbright scholars also bound for India, and a new member of the diplomatic corps. When we inquired about the loud banging noise we could clearly hear from our cabin, we were told an automobile owned by Kirk Douglas had broken loose in the storage hold. I have no idea if it’s true, but it was the closest I came to seeing a celebrity during the voyage.I remember being surprised and upset that photographs of the people on the pier who had come to see us off were for being offered for sale. I thought it was manipulative because some of us would not see our friends and families for a year or more, and naturally felt we had no choice but to purchase the photos showing “our” people. Now, over fifty years later, I cherish the photo I bought.-- David Roger Anthony, former passenger, who sailed on the SS United States in July of 1963