"Named perhaps ironically for the president of the insurance company that paid for its construction, the freighter has been described as a freshwater Titanic. "It was, in fact, the greatest ship on the Great Lakes when it launched in Detroit in 1958," Bacon said. "Fifteen thousand people came out to see the launching. When it went through the Soo Locks or Detroit or Duluth, people would wait half a day to see this ship come through. It was a rock star.""
"The success of Lightfoot's song elevated the Edmund Fitzgerald's place in popular history. But its tragedy was hardly unique. "From 1875 to 1975, there were at least 6,000 commercial shipwrecks on the bottom of the Great Lakes," Bacon told NPR. "So that is one shipwreck a week every week for a century. That is one casualty every day for a century.""
Gordon Lightfoot was surprised when his ballad 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' became a major hit in 1976 less than a year after the sinking. Lightfoot agonized over writing the song, fearing inaccuracy, corniness, or appearing to exploit a tragedy, and felt the song was deeply personal as a fellow sailor and Great Lakes native. The Edmund Fitzgerald sank carrying 26,000 tons of iron ore. From 1875 to 1975, at least 6,000 commercial shipwrecks occurred on the Great Lakes, averaging one shipwreck per week and one casualty per day for a century. The Fitzgerald launched in Detroit in 1958 to great fanfare.
Read at www.npr.org
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