Gitchee Gumee, 11/10/75

[David Jimerson]

My dad worked the Great Lakes his entire life and was a freighter captain for 20 years. When news of the Fitz's wreck hit, it was devastating to the community . . . lost friends, lost family, increased worry every time a new storm came along.

Even 32 years on, it's still an anniversary we solemnly acknowledge.

I'm considering doing a documentary on it from the perspective of a Great Lakes mariner family member.

 

[Blaine]

Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a great account. I saw a program on NatGeo that suggested it was lost due to a Rogue Wave.

 

[David Jimerson]

Well . . .

Lightfoot's song is stirring, but isn't that accurate. Nice take on an old Scottish tune, though.

My dad's pretty sure that they just hit bottom during a storm swell and cracked the keel. The Coast Guard disagrees, but they're also the ones who wanted my dad to take his ship out into the storm to find the Fitz because their boats had mysteriously developed faults in their steering boxes. They also quietly added a shallow spot to the Lake Superior charts not long after.