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Book

The gales of November : the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Call Numbers

  • 917.749 B1288 (CEN, EAS, MBL, OSH, POW, WSQ)
  • H 917.749 B1288 (CEN)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2025]

Physical Description

xx, 442 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps, portraits ; 24 cm

Summary

On November 10, 1975, during one of the fiercest storms ever to hit the Great Lakes, the massive freighter Edmund Fitzgerald vanished beneath the waves of Lake Superior, taking all twenty-nine crew members with her. In The Gales of November, acclaimed journalist John U. Bacon delivers the definitive account of this haunting maritime disaster and the era that produced it. Drawing on over a hundred interviews with families, friends, and shipmates of the lost men, Bacon explores how the Fitzgerald came to symbolize the power and promise of America's postwar industrial might -- and how its loss marked the end of a booming age of Great Lakes shipping. Both an emotional tribute and a gripping narrative history, this book vividly captures the human stories behind the tragedy and the enduring mystery that still surrounds the "Mighty Fitz."

Notes

Map on endpapers.

Contents

  • Prologue
  • The risks
  • The rewards
  • To build a better boat
  • "If we make it 'til daylight..."
  • Pride of the American side
  • Thirty-eight hours in a raft
  • The captain
  • The Toledo Express
  • The sailor's life
  • The veterans
  • The rookies
  • Lunch with the captain
  • One last run (November 8-10, 1975)
  • The sailor's code
  • Searching
  • All that remains
  • Epilogue.

Subjects