The Swamp

May the 29 men lost that day rest in peace.

The sinking of the Fitzgerald made for a great song, and an even greater nautical story. To a native Michigander who has boated on Lake Superior many a time, the Edmund Fitzgerald story carries more weight than that of the Titanic. It certainly has led me to take greater care. Lake Superior storms are epic, and they can come on fast.

I recall a kayak episode in Lake Michigan, just southeast of Lake Superior, where my paddling partner in a double looked at the shoreline and said, "Is it just me, or have we only made about 50 yards in the last hour?"

It was a nice summer day -- but then came the sudden wind and growing waves. Before long we were paddling just trying not to lose ground, and be blown wherever the hell the storm wanted us to go. In a moment of black humor I began to hum the classic melody to Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I'm sure that was well received. I was actually pretty scared.

Sports connection: Edmund Fitzgerald was a businessman, chairman of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company. His son, Edmund B. Fitzgerald, was also a prominent businessman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One of his ventures, he partnered with a group of local investors, including a used car dealer named Allen Selig. They bought a failed baseball team, moving the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee.

Yeah. The owner of the Brewers was named Edmund Fitzgerald.

Edmund B. Fitzgerald dies at 87; known for baseball, shipwreck ties

Amazing -- I had no idea.

I suppose this is the consequence of the Fitzgerald disaster being a "modern" one. Old guys today were teenagers back then. The wreck was current news, not the stuff of myth like the Titanic. So there are bound to be more connections in our world even today.

These lines from the Lightfoot song refer to a church that's near the river in Detroit:

In a musty old hall in Detroit, they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

The Mariners' Church was built as a result of a bequest from a woman before the Civil War. Sailors were commonly turned away at Detroit churches because they weren't well-dressed or weren't stable members of the community. This church was built for mariners.

The annual ringing of the Mariners' Church bells still gets attention each year. I believe they are now ringing them around 10 times, not 29, with each toll representing something about mariners on the Great Lakes rather than just the Fitzgerald tragedy. The article below shows the church, and tells the interesting back story that's about a different kind of unwanted people. In addition to the focus on mariners, this was once an important place in the Underground Railroad.

http://marinerschurchofdetroit.org/wp-c ... reedom.pdf

I was a sophomore in college, and I have zero recollection of any news coverage of this tragedy. Granted, I watched little TV at that time, and was busy, work/college/chasing girls. But when the song came out the following year, and was constantly on the radio, I had no idea it was a recent event, I figured Gord was singing some old folk song. I remember some article about the song, maybe in Rolling Stone?, describing the shipwreck.

I imagine the media coverage of such a thing today would be impossible to miss.

To midwesterners it was no doubt different. More immediate. We knew something of the places mentioned in the song. And the families of the 29 victims were locals, spread around the upper midwest. It was kind of like the Vietnam era. It hit home a lot more when you heard that some kid who had gone to a nearby high school -- or your own -- came home in a bag, or in a trance.

howard wrote:Sports connection: Edmund Fitzgerald was a businessman, chairman of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company. His son, Edmund B. Fitzgerald, was also a prominent businessman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One of his ventures, he partnered with a group of local investors, including a used car dealer named Allen Selig. They bought a failed baseball team, moving the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee.

Yeah. The owner of the Brewers was named Edmund Fitzgerald.

Edmund B. Fitzgerald dies at 87; known for baseball, shipwreck ties

Another sports connection...one of the search vessels was the SS WIlliam Clay Ford.

I really thought Gordon Lightfoot was pulling our leg.

"Known for baseball, shipwreck ties" will hopefully be recycled for Fred Wilpon's obit.

For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

tennbengal wrote:For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

Here in Toronto, we border a very passive part of a huge lake. The song - which was a huge hit here - seems so weird in respect to the fact that the great lakes can get so rough that it can break a ship in half.

tennbengal wrote:For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

How about "like an ocean"?

Pruitt wrote:

tennbengal wrote:For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

Here in Toronto, we border a very passive part of a huge lake. The song - which was a huge hit here - seems so weird in respect to the fact that the great lakes can get so rough that it can break a ship in half.

Is there a larger version of that picture somewhere? I'd love to read up on it.

mister d wrote:

tennbengal wrote:For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

How about "like an ocean"?

I guess that would do it...

Damn you, delaware.

If you somehow ever find yourself in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (and you really should at some point because it's incredible, though I'd advise only going between Memorial Day and Labor Day), be sure to check out the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It's only like 20 or 30 miles or so from Tahquamenon Falls, which you should also be sure to visit. The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald resides at the museum.

(If nothing else make sure you see a couple of the Great Lakes. They are so massive that they can also produce tsunami-like events called seiches. There was one a few months ago.

brian wrote: (If nothing else make sure you see a couple of the Great Lakes. They are so massive that they can also produce tsunami-like events called seiches. There was one a few months ago.

That is horrifying! Gitchee Gummee is a beast.

brian wrote:If you somehow ever find yourself in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (and you really should at some point because it's incredible, though I'd advise only going between Memorial Day and Labor Day), be sure to check out the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It's only like 20 or 30 miles or so from Tahquamenon Falls, which you should also be sure to visit. The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald resides at the museum.

(If nothing else make sure you see a couple of the Great Lakes. They are so massive that they can also produce tsunami-like events called seiches. There was one a few months ago.

Mrs. Sabes and I almost went to the UP this fall for a brief vacation, but we decided to table it for a year or two. Some of the lakeshore parks up there look phenomenal.

Sabo wrote:

brian wrote:If you somehow ever find yourself in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (and you really should at some point because it's incredible, though I'd advise only going between Memorial Day and Labor Day), be sure to check out the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It's only like 20 or 30 miles or so from Tahquamenon Falls, which you should also be sure to visit. The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald resides at the museum.

(If nothing else make sure you see a couple of the Great Lakes. They are so massive that they can also produce tsunami-like events called seiches. There was one a few months ago.

Mrs. Sabes and I almost went to the UP this fall for a brief vacation, but we decided to table it for a year or two. Some of the lakeshore parks up there look phenomenal.

Yeah, Pictured Rocks is also a must-see in my opinion and not too far from the Lower Peninsula if you're short on time. If you are spending more than three or four days up there, I'd make my way over to the Porcupine Mountains and Keweenaw Peninsula -- maybe even make a trip to Isle Royale. It's amazing up there, it's like a whole different planet.

tennbengal wrote:For people that have never been to the northern parts of the Great Lakes - it is hard to describe just how high and powerful the waves can get.

When I first saw a storm on the Pacific Ocean in the northwest USA I remember thinking how much this was like Lake Superior, but with bigger beaches. The other great lakes are playing a different ballgame.

Reading this now:



I'm absolutely fascinated by it. It has also made me want to spend some time in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Apparently early November - and especially the 10th - is the riskiest time for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. The water is still relatively warm and the beginnings of the cold air can create havoc on the lakes.

vandwagon wrote:Reading this now:



I'm absolutely fascinated by it. It has also made me want to spend some time in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Apparently early November - and especially the 10th - is the riskiest time for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. The water is still relatively warm and the beginnings of the cold air can create havoc on the lakes.

Just ordered that book from the library.

One fact about the great lakes that I find very interesting is the different depths.

Here are the averages and maximums (in feet):

Superior: 490 & 1,300
Huron: 195 & 750
Michigan: 280 & 925
Erie: 60 & 210
Ontario: 280 & 800

No wonder Erie is so polluted.

https://twitter.com/Nicole_Cliffe/statu ... 7850704896
(thread)

https://twitter.com/CoachJim4UM/status/ ... 9280665601


Okay so that's weird

Gordon Lightfoot Honoured In Hometown

Just to emphasize the Canadianess of it all, the first two quotes in the story - one from lightfoot and one from a fan) end in "for sure."

So next time you're in the lovely little city of Orillia (90 minutes north of Toronto), be sure to check out this statue...



Old Gordon seems perturbed...

Good to see he still has the jacket.

Man, I'm glad Brian resurrected this thread. I'd missed it the first time around.

I saw an article just last week reporting on a "November Witch" storm up there.

Bump, solemnly.

Shit, I’m so off today.

Maybe get some posting glasses.

Can I borrow your PayPal glasses?