Edmund Fitzgerald Anniversary
As the song goes, the legend lives on from the Chippewa on down.
This is the anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The iron ore freighter sank 35 years ago today, 17 miles north of Whitefish Point.
The crew went down with the ship.
A Marquette City Commissioner once wrote a well–received book about the tragedy, the cause of which is still a mystery.
Fred Stonehouse says it’s important to note that while it’s the most famous wreck to ever take place on the Great Lakes, it’s just one of more than 7,500 shipwrecks on the lakes in the last few centuries.
The mystery of the Fitz, as many people call it, is one of the most popular maritime stories of all time.
Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ helped spread word of it.
Stonehouse says the song has become so popular over the years that a lot of people don’t know the Edmund Fitzgerald was actually a real ship.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise has a memorial tonight.
The ship’s bell will sound 30 times — once for each of the Fitz’s 29 crew members and once more for all mariners lost on the Great Lakes.
The annual memorial service is open to the public, but seating is on a first–come, first–served basis.