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| Author |
Message |
birdy
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Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
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Nov 11 01:42 UTC 2000 |
Twenty-five years ago today, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior near
Whitefish Point. That area is highly recognized for its shipwrecks. In
October of 1905, there were shipwrecks in the teens, and one year during the
1930s there were 26 wrecks in November alone.
When I lived in Marquette (a decent-sized town in the Upper Peninsula), my
friend took me down to the lake on the 20th anniversary. It was a blustery,
cold, November day with heavy snow mixed in with the freezing rain. We sat
on the beach, watched the waves, and listened to the song. It was the most
haunting moment of my life. It's true what they say about Lake Superior, and
Gordon Lightfoot captured the feel and eerie feeling perfectly. Every time
I hear that song I shudder.
What were you doing when you heard the news 25 years ago?
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| 60 responses total. |
gelinas
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response 1 of 60:
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Nov 11 01:47 UTC 2000 |
I didn't hear the news for nigh on a year; I remember hearing the Gordon
Lightfoot song in '76, probably that summer, and I remember hearing
speculation on the relationship between that ship's loss and certain oil
tankers, but it was probably not until late in '77 that I discovered *when*
the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.
On November 10, 1975, I celebrated my first Marine Corps Birthday, in San
Diego, California. 'Twas a Tuesday, if I recall correctly.
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carson
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response 2 of 60:
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Nov 11 02:37 UTC 2000 |
(I didn't hear the news 25 years ago. to be perfectly honest, the U.P.
didn't exist for me 25 years ago.) ;)
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birdy
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response 3 of 60:
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Nov 11 02:49 UTC 2000 |
I wasn't born yet, but I knew the story when I was very young. Our music
teacher played the song for us every year, and my parents told me about it
since we lived up north. I remember going to see the wreckage on a trip to
the U.P. in 1986 or 1987.
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krj
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response 4 of 60:
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Nov 11 03:18 UTC 2000 |
I was picking up my mail at East Holmes Hall at MSU when I saw the desk
copy of the Detroit Free Press with the news story.
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hematite
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response 5 of 60:
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Nov 11 03:21 UTC 2000 |
The wreck of what? :)
I wasn't born, and never heard about it until just about.....Now.
(Shows you what us Ohioian know)
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janc
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response 6 of 60:
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Nov 11 03:59 UTC 2000 |
I was 16 years old. I don't remember hearing anything much about it. I don't
think it got all that much media play.
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beeswing
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response 7 of 60:
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Nov 11 05:07 UTC 2000 |
I didn't know about it really, only knew of the song and that it was
related to a real life incident. What happened exactly?
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albaugh
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response 8 of 60:
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Nov 11 05:56 UTC 2000 |
There was no wreckage of the EF to see. To what do you refer?
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rcurl
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response 9 of 60:
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Nov 11 06:55 UTC 2000 |
There is lots of wreckage of the EF to see - what do you mean?
I was living in Michigan and heard about it as soon as it was reported.
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eeyore
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response 10 of 60:
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Nov 11 08:42 UTC 2000 |
I found out in 4th grade.....many years later.
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scott
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response 11 of 60:
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Nov 11 13:26 UTC 2000 |
I was alive and 9 years old at the time, but I only really heard about it
through the song.
Bees: The Edmund Fitzgerald was an ore freighter, a really big one. It
basically just sort of vanished in a rather nasty section of Lake Superior,
during one of those impressive storms that the lake can have.
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md
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response 12 of 60:
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Nov 11 14:48 UTC 2000 |
I never even heard about it before I moved to Michigan in 1980, and as
far as I know I still haven't heard the song.
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beeswing
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response 13 of 60:
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Nov 11 16:13 UTC 2000 |
Ah. I did not know about Lake Superior storms.
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scott
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response 14 of 60:
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Nov 11 16:30 UTC 2000 |
Here's a nice description, complete with weather maps and snippets of the song
lyrics:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html
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tpryan
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response 15 of 60:
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Nov 11 17:51 UTC 2000 |
Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was the national
#1 song on the first anniversary of the shipwreck, in November, 1976. It
is perhaps the last Top Ten tune to capture a piece of American history.
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pfv
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response 16 of 60:
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Nov 11 18:07 UTC 2000 |
And, it ain't played much anymore.. (Locally, they played it
ONCE, yesterday)
And, it is a total CLASSIC - if you do NOT feel the hairs stand
on end, you are not human. Haunting is prolly the best possible
term.
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gull
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response 17 of 60:
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Nov 11 19:09 UTC 2000 |
I never found it all that haunting until I happened to hear it while looking
out at Superior on a windy day. *That* made it haunting.
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pfv
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response 18 of 60:
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Nov 11 19:25 UTC 2000 |
hehe.. Then yer speakers are terrible... Or maybe yer
imagination.
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birdy
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response 19 of 60:
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Nov 11 19:39 UTC 2000 |
It's wonderfully haunting. I heard it on 94.7 yesterday evening after they
got 'a flood of requests for it'. It had never caused severe goosebumps until
I lived on Lake Superior for a few winters. <shiver>
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gelinas
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response 20 of 60:
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Nov 11 19:55 UTC 2000 |
The geography of Lake Superior makes for rough weather: It is large, giving
lots of room for the wind to build waves; it is oriented east-west, in line
with the prevailing winds, which gives the most scope for those wave-building
winds.
When I first heard of this loss, one speculation was that the waves were
spaced just right to leave this longer-than-usual freighter supported
fore and aft by successive wave crests, with amidships over a trough.
Since boat hulls are designed to be supported by water, this loss of
support broke her spine. I don't know what was learned about the cause
when the wreckage was visited and filmed a few years back, whether it would
support this conjecture.
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rcurl
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response 21 of 60:
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Nov 11 20:13 UTC 2000 |
Something like that - but there were also loose hatch covers, and the
boat started filling with water.
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carson
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response 22 of 60:
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Nov 11 20:27 UTC 2000 |
(we don't have the Lightfoot song at WUPX-Marquette. I haven't checked
WNMU-Marquette yet.)
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aruba
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response 23 of 60:
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Nov 11 20:56 UTC 2000 |
Re #1: 11/10/75 was a Monday.
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happyboy
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response 24 of 60:
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Nov 11 21:16 UTC 2000 |
re21: i think there was, or is, a theory that she may
have also *bottomed* earlier in her journey.
ennyhoo, i was in ms. green's music class in gravaeret middle
school, i think she was explaining the "paul is dead conspiracy"
or something when someone came to the room and told us
something about it.
there was plenty of wreckage. by the next spring my family
had one of the edmund's life-rings hanging in our basement.
it looked to me that it had originally been fastened to
something with that *lawnchair* material. it was ripped
or worn through, totally. dunno which.
creepy.
dad gave it to his old boat pilot a few years ago, and he in
turn gave it to the maritime museum in marquette, i think.
i grew up a mile, or less, from the lake
i grew up with the lightfoot song (even in my
hardcore mohawk poseur punk daze i secretly liked
gord!)
and i grew up with an artifact of that wreck in my home.
i still think about it.
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