Boatnerd Discussion Forum

[quote="Guest"]Gordon Lightfoot did not create the mystery surrounding the Edmund Fitzgerald. His ballad did not come out until August, 1976. From the time it foundered it created a tremendous amount of news which kept up for months after, creating a story and a mystery that has never ended. I remember the day and the days after and it was very heavily broadcast over and over. Every Lake news source, NBC Today Show, etc. had coverage in the early morning of Nov. 11, 1975 and it even was covered by European news sources. Gordon Lightfoot read and heard about it while he was in Toronto at the time it happened like the rest of us who truly remember.[/quote]

I lived in Brunssum, the Netherlands, in 1975 and both the Armed Forces Television Network and Dutch news stations reported the story. I was only 7 years old at the time but remember this well as I had spent several summers in Marine City, Michigan and was interested in the lake ships. I also remember the report of the wreck being on BBC radio.

Amen to that chief!

Interesting article on her sister ship published in the NY Times on Thursday.



http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/us/no-sail-order-had-been-issued-for-sister-ship-of-el-faro.html

Gents:
I believe the initial post by ms Laura McCormack was meant to be a requiem for the brave men and women who lost their lives when the El Faro sank . Her post describes ,so very well ,the hardships we seafarers undergo as we leave the comfort of home and family to embark on extremly difficult assignments. She is right when says"no one else in the world can possibly understand what we go through."

Let us use this post to mourn the loss of our fellow seafarers ,both on the El Faro, and the Fitz

To the families of the crew of El Faro, please accept our heartfelt sympathies for the loss of your dear ones.
May their souls rest in peace.

Canadian Great laker C/E

I've seen the Fitz legend building over time. From what I'm told, the news was a shocker, but it pertained to those interested parties that would have a concern about the event one way or another at the time, but then, over the years, it got a different kind of coverage on 70's & 80's era TV shows like "In Search Of" or whatnot. There was also some media interest that my dad remembered when Jacque Coustue came up to the lakes with his equipment to look over the wreck & his ideas about what happened & how they differed from the "official" line. There were always newspaper articles about it & she would show up in books & magazines from time to time. Then home videos brought the story to my generation on VHS, & later generations on DVD. The internet has just blown anything like this wide open & there's more info (good & bad) out there everywhere now & seems like 20 new theories come out every 5 minutes.

I agree. Gordon Lightfoot didn't create the mystery surrounding the Fitzgerald. Nature took care of that. But he did perpetuate the legend, no pun intended. When I wrote a 10th anniversary story about the sinking for the Duluth paper I interviewed the people who ran the marine museum there. They said they got visitors from all over the country who knew nothing about the Great Lakes -- except the Fitzgerald because they had heard Lightfoot's song.

As for news coverage, I'm sure it varied by location. But in the Chicago area, it was network TV for a night or two and then not much more until months later when the Coast Guard released its theory about the wreck with the photos and drawings.

We were downbound Lake Huron the night after the Fitzgerald went down and I remember the story getting national news coverage, but it didn't receive any extended coverage. I don't remember if it was the lead story on the news that night. The first I heard about it was we were still tied up on the wall below the Poe waiting for the river to open and I had just woke up from a nap and I turned on my TV and caught the late news on a Soo, Ontario station.The reporter said that a 729 foot ore boat sank in Lake Superior. After he said that he then gave the name. I couldn't believe it then and 40 years later I sometimes have trouble still believing it happened. Like I've posted before, it's the worst weather I've ever seen in my 63 years. I grew up 5 blocks from Lake Michigan and I've been in Duluth for 36 years about a mile from Lake Superior. I've seen some real ugly weather on both those Lakes, but nothing like I saw at the Soo that night.

Gordon Lightfoot did not create the mystery surrounding the Edmund Fitzgerald. His ballad did not come out until August, 1976. From the time it foundered it created a tremendous amount of news which kept up for months after, creating a story and a mystery that has never ended. I remember the day and the days after and it was very heavily broadcast over and over. Every Lake news source, NBC Today Show, etc. had coverage in the early morning of Nov. 11, 1975 and it even was covered by European news sources. Gordon Lightfoot read and heard about it while he was in Toronto at the time it happened like the rest of us who truly remember.

I think the El Faro received a lot more network TV time than the Fitzgerald did. I remember the Fitz was mentioned briefly on the evening network news and either Time or Newsweek ran about a 10-inch story on in the following week and that was pretty much it. Gordon Lightfoot has said he read the magazine article and then decided to write the song.

No, The Fritz did not have much more notice then the El Faro until Gordon Lightfoot 's song.

Did the Edmund Fitzgerald get this little attention from the news media in 1975?

I'm sure that it being a fairly well known ship sailing in inland waters helped it get a bit more notice. And of course the famous Gordon Lightfoot song has played a key role in keeping it ingrained in our memory since becoming a hit.

But the El Faro with its many similarities to that tragedy, seemed to be barely noticed by the media. Even the Bermuda Triangle legend, which fascinates many people and is the waters where I believe she went down in, hasn't helped this get much attention.

Sailing is one of the most difficult careers known to man. The weather we encounter, the loneliness we face, missing funerals, births, and holidays, the dangerous machinery we operate, the long hours we work, and the constant every day responsibility we have of each others safety. However, the comradery and bonds we create with each other are unique. No one else in the world can possibly understand what we go through. By now everyone knows of the El Faro tragedy this past week. I did not know any of the crew members personally but two engineers were Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduates as well. Keith Griffin was expecting twins in the next few months and Jeff Mathias has three children, 3, 5, and 7. The MMA community, along with Admiral Francis McDonald, is encouraging people to send cards to the families to express their condolences. Shipmates of the two engineers have created Go Fund Me pages to help provide for the children. I am asking you to please consider donating money to the children and/or writing a card. If you cannot do either, please share this information so as many people as possible can try to ease the pain of the families.

Fair winds and following seas,
Laura McCormack
MMA 13'



Dear Academy Family,

As you have probably heard, the Coast Guard has decided to call off the search for the mariners lost aboard the El Faro as of sunset. Please continue to keep Jeff's and Keith's loved ones and the families of all those lost in your thoughts and prayers in this very difficult time. As I informed you all in the past few days, their families would welcome notes of support - and now, I am sure, even more so. We individually do not have the power to erase their pain but, perhaps, a few hundred cards will let them know that they are not alone.

Ms. Katie Griffin
6915 Harbor Lane
Ft Myers, FL 33919

Ms. Jenn Mathias
PO Box 205
Kingston, MA 02364

Additionally, their shipmates from the Academy have begun to raise money to help move forward and to provide support in some small way for their children.

Keith's class of 2005 has launched a Go Fund Me page at: https://www.gofundme.com/qy5tv2zw

Jeff's class of 1996 has launched a Go Fund Me page as well at: https://www.gofundme.com/jeffmathias

In closing, I will endeavor to keep you posted of any services or events as details emerge.

Take good care,
Fran


Francis McDonald, LPD
Rear Admiral, USMS
President
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
101 Academy Drive
Buzzards Bay, MA 02532
508-830-5001
fmcdonald@maritime.edu

– Massachusetts Maritime Academy Alumni Association


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