Hubby’s college roommate’s high school friend was lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald. It has a personal connection for us.
We visited the lighthouse at Whitefish Bay (Michigan), where they were heading before the ship was lost. Mentioned in the lyrics. The museum there has a display on the tragedy.
Not often mentioned - the ship was retrofitted with an expansion so it could carry more ore. Cut in half, expanded, and welded back together. So was another sister ship, but that one was quietly decommissioned soon after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. I tried to find documentation of this, but haven’t found it in a search.
That November 1975 storm covered a huge swath of the Great Lakes region. I worked at a law firm in downtown Toronto, hundreds of miles from Lake Superior. We closed early because of the heavy rain and wind. As for his more cheerful song Carefree Highway, it's a real place. In the early 1970's, Gordon saw the exit sign off of Interstate 17 in Arizona and liked the name. I live a stone's throw from Carefree Highway now.
It was almost 30,000 short tons of ore, not 30
Hubby’s college roommate’s high school friend was lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald. It has a personal connection for us.
We visited the lighthouse at Whitefish Bay (Michigan), where they were heading before the ship was lost. Mentioned in the lyrics. The museum there has a display on the tragedy.
Not often mentioned - the ship was retrofitted with an expansion so it could carry more ore. Cut in half, expanded, and welded back together. So was another sister ship, but that one was quietly decommissioned soon after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. I tried to find documentation of this, but haven’t found it in a search.
RIP Gordon Lightfoot 🕊️
That November 1975 storm covered a huge swath of the Great Lakes region. I worked at a law firm in downtown Toronto, hundreds of miles from Lake Superior. We closed early because of the heavy rain and wind. As for his more cheerful song Carefree Highway, it's a real place. In the early 1970's, Gordon saw the exit sign off of Interstate 17 in Arizona and liked the name. I live a stone's throw from Carefree Highway now.
I can still hear the opening notes of that song in my head. It haunted me as a teen, and still does.
Ah, crap. Hadn't heard about Gordon Lightfoot. He wrote some great songs. Walk free.
As Michiganders and Great Lakes boaters, this is one of our "favorite" stories. Thank you for telling it so well!
Phenomenal song by a great musician. My late mother didn't like much "modern" music, but she loved Gordon Lightfoot's songs.
I remember him for If you could read my mind. Mostly because I remembered him from the remake.
We saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert at Ravinia in the early 80s. A magical, unforgettable evening.