36 years ago today-RIP crew of Edmund Fitzgerald

Oh Haha · 11-10-2011, 04:59 PM

This date is always a somber reminder of a dark time in my childhood.

My older brother was killed on 10/31/75 when he was 17. 10 days later the EF went down. Lots of sadness around our house at that time.

To many, it's just some weird 70's song but if you lived on/near the Great Lakes these freighters are something unique, if not intimidating, to you.

RIP guys.

Strange but positive coincidence--my wife was born in Sept. 1975.

Normy · 11-10-2011, 05:04 PM

I grew up as a child in Grosse Ile, Michigan, watching the great lakes freighters literally from my elementary school classroom, and I remember going out on Halloween 1975. I dressed up as the devil, very appropriate. I also remember all the talk by Bill Bonds on channel 7 in Detroit talking about the wreck and how it could possibly happen.

Amazing how time flies.

N

nynor · 11-10-2011, 05:08 PM

i only heard that song a couple of days ago. interestingly, it was the FIRST time i ever listened to the lyrics.

sorry about your brother.

Oh Haha · 11-10-2011, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Normy

I grew up as a child in Grosse Ile, Michigan, watching the great lakes freighters literally from my elementary school classroom, and I remember going out on Halloween 1975. I dressed up as the devil, very appropriate. I also remember all the talk by Bill Bonds on channel 7 in Detroit talking about the wreck and how it could possibly happen.

Amazing how time flies.

N

Cool, I didn't realize you are from MI, Normy.

BTW-Bill Bonds is still kickin', doing ads for furniture stores.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Normy

I grew up as a child in Grosse Ile, Michigan, watching the great lakes freighters literally from my elementary school classroom, and I remember going out on Halloween 1975. I dressed up as the devil, very appropriate. I also remember all the talk by Bill Bonds on channel 7 in Detroit talking about the wreck and how it could possibly happen.

Amazing how time flies.

N

Interesting! I took my daughter to Grosse Ile on a driving lesson last Sunday. she drove to Hickory and Elba Islands and did a very good job. We live in Wyandotte, so it's a short drive for us.

fingpilot · 11-10-2011, 05:34 PM

I lived at Park Point in Duluth for several years one winter. Learned more than I ever wanted to know about Lake Superior and the incredible ore haulers that come and go from there.

The EF legend is real and personal there.

strupgolf · 11-10-2011, 05:58 PM

Having visisted Wisconsin since 1970, I always had a likeness and awe for the great lakes. Gordon Lightfoot is my favorite singer and have always followed him over the years. I saw some of the artifacts from the EF up in Cleveland and it was chilling. Strange today as it was in the time. I really lilked the PBS show on the sinking and the honer of those who died.

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

Hugh R · 11-10-2011, 06:25 PM

I worked at MIT that year as a machinist and I worked with a guy named Ed(ward) Fitzgerald. I remember it well.

Mark Henry · 07:12 PM

My best friend in high school, his mom grew up with Gordon Lightfoot and she went to school with him from kindergarten right up to high school. Their house had autographed pics and framed backstage passes of Gordon Lightfoot. Every Christmas he sent her a card. Being rockers us kids didn't really like him, although I always thought the Edmund Fitzgerald was a cool song.
In 2004 we had the freak flood in Peterborough, ON, my dads basement had 6 feet of water in it. Later we went and saw Gordon Lightfoot at a flood relief benefit concert.
That was the same week(s) that I learned my older brother had throat cancer that eventually killed him.

Buckterrier · 11-10-2011, 07:05 PM

I have also lost an older brother. Sorry for your loss.
I don't have any connection to the event. I did get to see GL in Rhode Island a year or so ago. Nothing special as he is getting very old and hasn't had his health for quite a while. The thing I do remember is the guitar for that song. It was awesome to actually watch the player play that eery rift.

legion · 11-10-2011, 07:18 PM

I've been going up to Houghton, MI almost every summer for the past 12 years. In that time, I've seen just one freighter out on Superior.

I'm told that 30 years ago they were everywhere, hauling iron and copper ore.

Now you'll see more sailboats than freighters on Superior. The EPA and low copper prices have killed mining in the UP. (Yeah, prices are high now, but the regulations make it impossible to open or reopen a mine.) The railroad that ran up to Copper Harbor is gone. Half the houses have been for sale for more than a decade. It's just a sleepy vacation area populated by a few people who don't have the means to leave.

The Army Corps of engineers still dredges a channel in Portage Lake for the freighters to use for shelter in the storms, but I hear they may have 1 or 2 in a bad storm these days...not the hundreds of 30 years ago...

9dreizig · 11-10-2011, 09:40 PM

Fellow Michigander here too.. Coincidentally GL is playing in Reno this weekend...

HardDrive · 11-10-2011, 09:46 PM

I grew up in South Lyon/Ann Arbor. Certainly grew up with the song. It was haunting. Still is.

Lake Superior is a tough mother. Cold and unforgiving.

cmccuist · 11-11-2011, 02:00 AM

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early

Thats some good song writing right there.

fuelie600 · 11-11-2011, 05:56 AM

If you ever get a chance to visit Whitefish Point, they have a great lakes shipwreck museum. The Edmund Fitzgerald bell is on display and they run a film on the wreck and recovery of the the bell. Gordon Lightfoot's song runs on a continuous loop, adding to the atmosphere. (I bet the people working there hate that song now.)

We visited about 4 years ago. Beautiful place....

Laneco · 11-11-2011, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmccuist

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early

Thats some good song writing right there.

Absolutely. For me it's this line:

Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours...

Great writing.

angela

CurtEgerer · CurtEgerer's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Lake Superior is a tough mother. Cold and unforgiving.

We were in Houghton a few weeks ago for the LSPR Rally and there was a storm that seemed like the sequel to the Fitzgerald storm. 25-foot waves and 50 MPH winds. Although I think the 1975 storm was +75MPH winds and 30 foot waves

Luckily, we were racing cars, not boats!

Anyway, this Captain Jesse Cooper who was in the ship following the Fitzgerald had huge balls. After they lost contact with the ship and Cooper sailed into Whitefish Bay for safety, the Coast Guard (who didn't have any ships available) talked him into going back out into the storm to search for survivors. This is the radio transmission:

Rare Radio Chatter From The Search For The Edmund Fitzgerald - YouTube

Burnin' oil · 11-11-2011, 11:51 AM

My college room-mate (and former co-employee of Joe Bob's) was from Grosse Ile. Small world.

Oh Haha · 11-11-2011, 01:12 PM

Whitefish Bay is a beautiful place to visit in the summer.

I've collected most everything on the EF over the years. Just over my shoulder is a cool pic of her in calm waters. Next to that is a depiction of her in a storm, presumably just before she disappeared.

My son is now interested in the story. In fact, this summer we saw the Arthur Anderson heading down the St. Clair river. I took the opportunity to explain to him the significance of her relating to the Fitz.

Another strange coincidence--my older brother was born in 1958, the same year as the EF.

Kinda creepy, I know. Sorry.