Fifty years ago, on this November 10th, in 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald was wrecked in a mighty hurricane-force gale on Lake Superior, just 17 miles from shore. But that’s a long way when you’re on water, as any boatman will tell you. At the time, the Edmund was the largest ship ever to sail the Great Lakes, and, like the ill-fated Titanic, considered the one of the safest and most reliable. But when the gales of November come early…
Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the tragedy just a few days after it occurred, penning what is perhaps his most famous ballad, and making the wreck a Canadian (and American, for it was a U.S. ship) legend. Readers may enjoy Mark Steyn’s musings on the song that has survived all these decades, and likely many more.
