She is beautiful. I had no idea it happened in my lifetime. Sad story, especially after I read the story of the divers who decided the graveyard down under the waves was the place for them to make the deepest dive on the lakes. I'm glad they've kept their pictures to themselves, but why even take them? People are baffling. Yes, I have it playing now, as I kept singing it the moment I saw their name! Love Lightfoot.

Sounds like you live in the Great Lakes area?

I'm not sure how much awareness there is of this tragedy elsewhere, I think few know about it in my area. I was a Gordon Lightfoot fan back in the day and knew the song long before I learned it described an actual event.

For anyone who's interested, Gordon Lightfoot still spends many weeks on the road most years, giving concerts to sing his beloved songs. Sadly, his trademark beautiful voice has deserted him in his advanced years and he's unable to sing well these days. I went to his show a few years ago and it was really painful to hear him try to sing.

I don't remember that incident. Very interesting. I've never seen any of the Great Lakes either.

HERE'S a great website about the vessel, its crew, and more. There is also a video of Lightfoot performing the song.

I went to Chicago a few years ago and I was blown away by how expansive Lake Michigan was, even high up in the plane. It definitely competes with an ocean in many ways and I can see how the Edmund Fitzgerald could easily have foundered on an even bigger lake, since it was an older ship, not as well serviced as it could've been and hurricane force winds.

And HERE is a link to a Gordon Lightfoot web site with the lyrics to the song. One line of the song was changed in 2010, as is explained on the page.

(Edited to say that the web site linked is not Gordon Lightfoot's official site. But, the lyrics are there.)

My Canadian friends told me about the wreck some years ago. Sobering.

Gordon Lightfoot is doing a concert here this month or next. I was invited, but decided not to go for the same reason Snidely mentioned. I'd rather enjoy his younger voice on CDs and Pandora.

Yes, I'm Minnesota born and raised and have friends in northern MN & WI both. Used to make regular trips to Duluth to watch the ships. Just found them fascinating.

Lightfoot was interviewed back in the 70s and spoke of how he agonized over writing it. Because it was so hotly disputed about how it sank and it hasn't been settled to this day. Initially some of the investigators felt the crew was negligent for not preparing it for the storm and when they looked at the site of the wreck the ones blaming the crew justified it by saying there were (hatch cover) clamps all over the place. The argument was that inadequately clamped hatch covers leaked water. I don't buy into that claim. As another captain (one of the ones who hauled anchor and went out in the storm to search for the boat) claimed "those hatch covers weigh TONS" and he said he's gone below on boats when there were few to no clamps on the covers and he said maybe a cup of water comes in. I find Capt. Cooper's thoughts to be more credible. It's known that the Fitz had inaccurate maps of the 3 mile shoal. (Arthur M. Anderson's Captain) Cooper warned them they were getting into very shallow water. He believes they bottomed out and got a stress fracture. It was shortly after that the Fitz was taking on water and developing a list. But nobody will ever know.

So back to Lightfoot. That's why he decided to put out several possibilities. And he took liberties with it as do all balladeers. They were not destined for Cleveland, they were heading to Detroit. And Lightfoot has changed more than one line. Some people were offended that he called the church a "musty old hall" so as he sang it in recent times he's changed it to a "rustic" old hall.

And rob333, you're not alone. Few people realize how massive the Great Lakes are and how dangerous they can be. There's another problem the freighters have, when they're fully loaded, they ride very low in the water. It's not unusual to have greenwater of 10'-15' coming across the decks (factor in the weight of that!) A number of boats have sunk from having two massive waves lift the bow and stern and lift the middle out of the water. They're not made to stand that when loaded and they'll snap in two. Or they can have the stern lifted so high they'll just drive straight down into the water and head to the bottom of the lake.

For anyone who is interested, one of the local Duluth/Superior television stations, WDIO will be airing a remembrance of the event on their 10pm (Central time) broadcast tonight. They're likely going to have it available on their website if you want to watch it at other times. Their news anchor at the time, Dennis Anderson, is claimed to be the first to air the report of the sinking. He received calls from two women who told the same story, that they heard on marine radio that a ship had gone down.

The Fitz is covered in a TV show today on one of the history channels.

I think in the past there was a television documentary on PBS about that ship wreck. I don't even know who Gordon Lightfoot is! :)

Sue

I still love his voice and have seen him many times in concert. Last time was 2 years ago. It is really like watching a different man though. In the early years he was big and robust looking in videos... now he is a very very tiny man. Very thin. but I still love his music. Does not look anything like the man on his records. I love this song and it is a regular on my playlist.

I wasn't long out of high school when it happened--I've lived most of my life in Ohio, so anything happening on the lakes is noted. Such a sad event.

Love Gordon Lightfoot, always have. I remember it was a joke for a while that a radio station had reported his demise--as he was listening to the station in his car.

Many music performers from the 60s-70s-80s remain in excellent voice and have continued to tour. Others for whatever reason can no longer sing and really should stay home. Ones in this second category who immediately come to mind (because I learned the hard way by going to see them) include Lightfoot, Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) and John Sebastian (of Lovin Spoonful and later as a solo act) and there are many others. Whether it's because of too much smoking, overuse of vocal chords or other reasons is unknown, but those who can't perform to the standard that paying audiences expect to enjoy shouldn't continue to try.

My wife was born and raised in Huron, Ohio. The Edmund Fitzgerald was in port quite often, loading iron ore and taking it to Cleveland. I remember watching it being loaded while we dined at Showboat Restaurant at the pier.

Coast Guard Radio Transmissions

I too thought it happened longer ago. What a haunting story and song.

She was a beautiful ship, wasn't she? May they all rest in peace.

You're so right Snidely. DH and I went to see Art Garfunkel a couple of weeks ago. It was almost painful. I heard that Gordon Lighfoot will be in Ithaca soon but we'll pass. I'd rather remember him the way he was. Ohhh those great lakes. I lived *right* on Lake Ontario from 1973-1975. I had nightmares about that lake for most of my adult life after that.

I was about 16 when the Fitz went down. We have been to Whitefish Point several times in the last few years and have enjoyed the museum there. May they RIP.

I have lived on the southern shore of Lake Erie all of my life. Not that far from Brushworks wife was born and raised. Growing up on the Lake, you know it is large, but until you see it from the air, you don't really grasp how large each of the Great Lakes are. I realized that last March when we flew to Chicago, then to Seattle. We took a shipwreck boat tour once when we were in the UP of Michigan. It is amazing how clear the water is in Lake Superior, and how deep you can see. For those of you who are not familiar with our Great Lakes, when you see the freighters on the water, they look like miniatures.

When out on Lake Erie in any water craft, you really have to pay close attention to the weather. A storm can come up in no time, no warning what so ever. My dad would not, as an adult, go out on the Lake in a boat. His mom used to take the kids out in a row boat, from some of the stories I heard him and my aunt and uncle tell. Lake Erie, and probably all of the Great Lakes, seems to create their own weather systems at times. We were crossing on the ferry from Kelly's Island to the mainland a few years ago when a storm came out of no where. Scary. And you can see the mainland from the island.

Retirement means many things, including that it's a way to describe what older people do when they no longer go to work and/or can no longer perform their jobs as they could when younger. Aging and retirement are stages of life that those who live long enough reach. People who pretend otherwise when the writing is on the wall usually fool no one. I'm glad he survived health problems, he should take better care of himself by not going on tour. He turns 77 this month, it wouldn't be premature for him to trade a guitar for a rocking chair. Your calling my comment cruel is a laugh.

I went to see him maybe 5 years ago (I'm not certain) and he was simply awful. Not listenable in any way. The money I spent on the tickets was completely wasted, he should have more respect for his fans and for himself. Have you seen him in concert lately?

It took me about 10 seconds to find these reviews of two different Lightfoot concerts from a few months ago:

Gordon Lightfoot a Letdown

Theater Manager Posts Apology for Gordon Lightfoot Concert

"Telling him to stay home and forego his livelihood, not to mention the band's, because you disapprove of aging is cruel."

ROFL Oh COME ON!! Forego his livlihood? How far must you reach? Gordon Lightfoot will hardly be relegated to eating out of dumpsters, sleeping under a bridge or living in a van down by the river by not going on a concert tour! (Net worth a few years back was estimated at $30 million. I don't think we need to take up a collection for him just yet.)

If I can stop laughing long enough, I did watch the report and was disappointed. I thought this station would have done a much better job.

It's been well known what his condition is and what his concerts were like since the stroke. SW, I'm sorry you and the reviewers you linked were disappointed, but there's a certain amount of buyer beware involved. If you want to see the Sundown tour you'll have to go back to 1973. There is no reason five years ago you couldn't have spent the same ten seconds to check the reviews before you went to see a sick old man in concert.

And, yes, Cynic, it's his livelihood. It's how he makes his living. It's how the band make their livings, which, IIRC, is one of his stated reasons for touring.

If you don't want to go to the concert, don't buy the ticket. If enough don't buy the tickets, he'll stop touring. Most venues will refund tickets if patrons are unhappy. If this cuts into their bottom line, they won't book him and he'll stop touring.

I was a transplant to Milwaukee when the Fitz foundered. I had arrived in 1960 and had been working for the Cutler-Hammer Corporation, but had not yet become fully privy to the interpersonal relationships of several manufacturing firms in the area. That side of society kept to themselves and did not broadcast their family activities to the general public. If you were not "in the group", you were an outsider suitable for hire to labor in their industries. Family news of the upper echelon was kept quiet. The sorrow of the sinking of big Fitz was felt by the whole town, but much more so within the tight knit upper society of Milwaukee.

When the Fitz went down, it cast a pall over the executives of two firms: Northwestern Mutual and Cutler-Hammer. Edmund Fitzgerald Sr. was president of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and his son, Edmund "Ed" Fitzgerald, Jr. was CEO of Cutler-Hammer. The big ore carrier was the pride and joy of Northwestern Mutual.

The ship sank in 1975. In 1976, Ed Fitzgerald Jr. lost control of Cutler-Hammer as a result of the company trying to rescue of an old friend, the Leeds and Northrup Co. from the grip of Tyco.

Afterward, the town has never been the same.

I actually heard the bells the day when they were rung at the Detroit Mariner's Church for the seamen that were lost as mentioned in the song. Edmund Fitzgerald song video Living very close to the Detroit River we get to know the lake freighters by name because they go by so often and the Edmund Fitzgerald was one of those freighters. My Mom always kept a log book of the ships we would see

That song never fails to give me goosebumps, along with his "Canadian Railroad Trilogy".

I saw him in concert back in the late 70's in college. The concert itself was wonderful, but he kept kvetching at the sound quality during the concert -- which I thought was fine but back then I didn't own a stereo so what did I know? (So much so that the campus newspaper review was entitled, "Gordon and the Sound Man".)

I remember the sinking as I was going to school in Indiana at the time, Lake Michigan being just to our north.

I am sorry to learn of all of GL's illnesses.

Double-talk doesn't fix the problem when one has climbed the wrong tree and can't get down.

annz3, you live in the Ithaca area? (I'd subconsciously noted your mentioning that but forgot to comment).

I have a kid who decided to spend undergrad years there. He had a fabulous experience - are you or a family member involved with one of the two colleges in town? We loved going to visit and enjoyed both the town and the surrounding area. Though you'll understand, this thin blooded Californian restricted visits to fall and spring. It's a beautiful area and there seemed to be lots to do.

Ithaca was a great "date" town! The concerts, plays, the lake, dances, picnics by the falls.....sigh.

We YouTubed the video during breakfast this morning. A very poignant reminder. R.I.P.

Yeah, Ann, I know about winters there, I'm sure you get used to it and learn how to deal with the conditions. One of my trips was in late October and at a night football game it was drizzly (a few degrees too warm for snow) and very windy. I'd never been so cold in my life. And haven't been so cold since. But it's such a nice place to visit, and a special treat is being there at apple harvest time.

Rhizo, did you go to school in Ithaca or grow up there?

Grew up about 25 miles NE of Ithaca. One of the things I miss most are the just picked MacIntosh and Cortland apples, and fresh pressed cider.

We tried to find some programming about the sinking on TV last night but couldn't find anything.

My favorite apple from up there (that I'd never had before) was Northern Spy. It reminded me taste-wise of my favorite Newtown Pippins. Sweet but tart and very crunchy. Both are apparently rather old varieties. Pippins are getting increasingly hard to find as the years go on, other varieties are more popular.

Very haunting, beautiful song. I didn't know he had changed the lyrics.

I'm two hours from Ithaca. Beautiful, charming town. This was a fabulous apple year. I have Cortland and McIntosh apples on my property, as well as Kings, Stayman Winesaps, Empires, Russets, and Golden Delicious. We're enjoying them thoroughly.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

This YouTube video has the song sung by Lightfoot and a few underwater scenes of the wreck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw