I was 12 years old when the fitz sank. Grew up on the west side of Michigan, right on the lake.
it is incredible how quickly the lake can get ugly when storms come through. November is not a good time to be near the lakes, let alone on them. I imagine Superior is x3 in the intensity. I have only seen it in summer and fall time.
I remember this storm...it was nasty that night. The witch of November, indeed.
I will always have a healthy respect for the mariners of the Great Lakes.
Any yes, the gales of November did come a bit early in these parts. I'm still picking up branches in my yard from the storm that blew through here a week ago Saturday.
I’ll bet I’m the only person on the East Coast with a painting by James Clary of the Fitz in her last moments hanging in my living room.
Great song.
The hull structue was inadequate to resist the bending moments imposed by the great swells. She literally broke in two
It was simply a news report put to music.
Bobby Sands - IRA hunger striker - used the tune to write “Back Home in Derry”
The rest of my parodies are on my FR homepage.
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Speaking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, isn’t it kind of weird timing that an Ed Fitzgerald went down hard last Tuesday in the Ohio gubernatorial contest?
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Gordon Lightfoot has another song about a ship sinking, “The Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle.” Like the song about the “Edmund FitzGerald”, the Yarmouth Castle has a haunting melody.