J. Kent Layton

J. Kent Layton (1980-) was born in the Capital District of New York State, and moved to the Finger Lakes Region of Central New York in 1990. He has been fascinated with history and the great Atlantic liners -- particularly the "Titanic" and "Lusitania" -- since early childhood. A born writer, he channeled his personal obsession into writing engaging and informative books on ocean liners. At first he self-published his works, but was later signed with Amberley Books, The History Press, and Shire Books.

His most recent volume is "Recreating Titanic and Her Sisters: A Visual History" (The History Press, co-authored with Tad Fitch and Bill Wormstedt, Foreword by Ken Marschall); it is a lavishly-illustrated hardback-format book that captures the entire history of the "Olympic", "Titanic", and "Britannic", and brings them back to life through its pages. It builds upon the years of research these three did in bringing "On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic" (Amberley, co-written with Tad Fitch and Bill Wormstedt) to fruition in 2012.

His other volumes include "The Unseen Mauretania (1907): The Ship In Rare Illustrations" (The History Press), "The Unseen Aquitania: The Ship In Rare Illustrations" (The History Press, co-authored with Tad Fitch), among quite a number of others. He divides his time between his writing and research and his work as a piano tuner and technician.