Lightfoot ballad helps keep alive memory of Edmund Fitzgerald- Ship sinks 30 years ago today

Mlive.com ^ | 11.10.05 | MIKE HOUSEHOLDER

[apackof2]

DETROIT (AP) — It has been described in many ways: Haunting. Comforting. Powerful. Educational.

But one thing is certain. Gordon Lightfoot's song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," has kept alive the memory of 29 men who lost their lives on Nov. 10, 1975 when the ore carrier plunged to the bottom of Lake Superior during a nasty storm.

"In large measure, his song is the reason we remember the Edmund Fitzgerald," said maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse. "That single ballad has made such a powerful contribution to the legend of the Great Lakes."

Three decades after the tragedy, the Fitzgerald remains the most famous of the 6,000 ships that have gone down on the Great Lakes.

Many owe their awareness of the Fitzgerald's fate to Lightfoot, whose own initial knowledge of the sinking came from a magazine.

Lightfoot read about the Fitzgerald in a Newsweek article and used it as the inspiration to pen what would become one of his signature songs.

Clocking in at 6 1/2 minutes, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" appeared on the 1976 album "Summertime Dream" and eventually made it to No. 2 on the pop charts.

The song remained on the charts for 21 weeks and has never really gone away. Lightfoot still performs it at concerts, including a show at Detroit's Fox Theatre over the summer.

Meeting him backstage that day was Ruth Hudson, whose son Bruce was working as a deckhand on the Fitzgerald when it went down. Lightfoot and Hudson have become friends over the years.

Hudson, who lives in North Ridgeville, Ohio, and saw Lightfoot perform near Cleveland the year the song was released, said the song has been therapeutic to the families of the crew.

"It's meant a lot. It's kept the men and the memorial to the men alive," she said. "I think it's been good for the families. They have felt comfort in it. I have talked to just about all of them, and I haven't talked to anyone who didn't like the song."

Lightfoot declined to be interviewed for this story, but he told The Associated Press in 2000 that "Wreck" is "a song you can't walk away from."

"You can't walk away from the people (victims), either," he said. "The song has a sound and total feel all of its own."

The structure of the song is simple: 14 verses, each four lines long, and the 450-plus words are carefully chosen and accompanied by a haunting melody.

The song tells the story of the Fitzgerald's fatal voyage, which began Nov. 9 in Superior, Wis., where it was loaded with 26,116 tons of iron ore and ready to set sail for Detroit.

A day later it was being pounded by 90-mph wind gusts and 30-foot waves.

Ernest McSorley, the ship's captain, radioed a trailing freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, and said that the Fitzgerald had sustained topside damage and was listing. At 7:10 p.m., he told the Anderson: "We are holding our own."

A short time later, the ship disappeared from radar without issuing an SOS. After a few days, a vessel with sonar was able to locate the Fitzgerald only 15 miles from the safe haven of Whitefish Bay.

But Lightfoot's song does more than tell the story, it transports the listener on board the Fitzgerald that fateful night:

"The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait/When the gales of November came slashing/When afternoon came it was freezing rain/In the face of a hurricane west wind."

And then the crescendo:

"The captain wired in he had water coming in/And the good ship and crew was in peril/And later that night when his lights went out of sight/Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Several memorial events are planned to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the sinking, including a ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point and a service at the Mariners' Church of Detroit.

And undoubtedly "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" will be heard and discussed.

"Any bit of literature, prose or poetry that magnifies the loss of loved ones is so dramatic. That is comforting to those people. That means that someone else is sharing your grief. We bear one another's burdens, so that helps," said Bishop Richard W. Ingalls of the Mariners' Church. Ingalls tolled the church bell 29 times the morning after the sinking.

"Gordon Lightfoot's song definitely has given it a life that seems not to end."

[somemoreequalthanothers]

Asylums - I can spell, really. Been a bad week.

[Pompah]

Can you say GOOGLE. "The Wreak Of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Superior,it's said never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early. Chilling words.

[La Enchiladita]

I first heard this sung and played by a traditional Irish musician, Micheal O'Domhnail.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I don't know Clemnenza or the Mother in question, but don't think people were so quick to sue for every little thing back in 1971......

[Alberta's Child]

The official investigation was not conclusive, but they're pretty certain about the cause of the wreck. It's never been "officially" established because there was an element of human error involved and they authorities have been deferential to the families of the survivors in this regard.

The ship was an ore carrier that carried its load in its enormous hold. The ore is loaded and unloaded through giant hatches that are closed during voyages to protect the load from the outside elements. One or more of these hatches were not properly secured before the voyage (or somehow loosened during the trip), so the hold slowly filled with water during the heavy storm.

The heavy seas caused the ship to pitch forward and back (since the wind was coming from the northwest, which was the back of the ship as it proceeded to the southeast), and on one forward "lean" the entire load of iron ore slid forward in the hold, causing the nose of ship to plunge beneath the surface. It is believed that for an instant the back of the ship was lifted completely out of the water before breaking off. The ship probably went down in less than a minute, which explains why no distress call was ever heard.

Some of these conclusions were derived from an exploration of the wreck about five years ago by a submersible robot. I've always found this painting -- which is based on the images from that exploration -- to be particularly eerie.

[apackof2]

They said he spent time in and out of aylums.

Just as I suspected....post #37

Oh I am sorry to hear that, sounds like he had an anger mangement and/or emotional problems

[JOE6PAK]

Last known photo taken at Great Lakes Steel, Detroit River October 26, 1975 She is shown here unloading at Great Lakes Steel on Zug Island - in a photograph which has been documented as the last photograph ever taken of "The Fitz" before her untimely loss on Lake Superior.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The cargo hatch theory is one reason given for the list. Another possibility is that she "shoaled" scraped bottom on one of the numerous underwater mountains near Isle Royale. This is possible because the captain steered further north than usual to get some protection from the NE wind.
Another consideration is that the Fitz was pitching violently up and down and could have been pushed into the lake floor by a massive swell or wave. She was 729 feet long and now is in two pieces in about 550 feet of water. Its possible that her bow could have hit the bottom of the lake and snapped the boat in half.

[wallcrawlr]

FYI:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519237/posts

[apackof2]

but don't think people were so quick to sue for every little thing back in 1971......

Your right about that...now people want to sue if they are served lukewarm scrambed eggs at the resturant!

[madison10]

The "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" sounds like many of the old sea shanties, especially those sung by Irishmen. Many are haunting and some are just plain bawdy.

Definitely a Michigander's memory.

[SolutionsOnly]

Most folks don't realize how deadly Lake Superior is.

There are a LOT of shipwwrecks on it.

[Jaxter]

In a former life I was a coal miner. It was sometime around 1980 I went with some fellow miners to a bar back in the hills east of New Martinsville, West Virginia. There was supposed to be a big party in honor of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The pilot of the Edmund Fitzgerald was supposed to be there. The story was that he was sick (appendicitus?) and in the hospital (Chicago? Detroit?) when the ship went down. There was even rumors that Gordon Lightfoot was going to show up.

After we were there (drinking heavily) for a couple of hours a guy showed up in a uniform and claimed to be the pilot. He was from somewhere in that area of WVa. He said (after getting pretty drunk himself) that he felt responsible for the wreck ofthe ship because they had to have a less experienced pilot on the ship because of his illness.

I never did find out if he was legitimate or not but we all got pretty drunk on Blue Ribbon beer. And, no Gordon Lightfoot didn't show up.

[SolutionsOnly]

I never did find out if he was legitimate or not but we all got pretty drunk on Blue Ribbon beer. And, no Gordon Lightfoot didn't show up

Blue Ribbon beer might have been why. :-)

[apackof2]

The ship probably went down in less than a minute,

Just amazing, something so large
The men didn't even have time to react

[TalBlack]

"...caused it to break in the middle. Something like that."

Yeah, sounds like what I saw. The keel design had some issues IIRC.

They had actual film taken from the bridge towar the bow of a like ship as the failing keel flexed during a storm and it was hands down the most sickening-scary thuing I have ever seen.

[apackof2]

Thanks for the posting her before....

[earlyamerican]

Always loved that song. I never realized how dangerous the Great Lakes were. They have a website with information on Great Lakes' Shipwrecks.

[apackof2]

I didn't find that one when I searched but in any case TODAY is the anniversay of her sinking and I posted this article today as a memorial to her and her crew

[Alberta's Child]

One of the worst things about a modern, affluent society like ours is that more and more of the people who live in it have no appreciation for the devastating power of the natural world.

This is precisely how we ended up with thousands of people sitting in the Superdome during the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina.