Edmund Fitzgerald: The Legendary Great Lakes Shipwreck

by Elle Andra-Warner

Superior Never Gives Up Her Dead On November 10, 1975, the massive ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald succumbed to a stormy Lake Superior, leaving no survivors. Memorialized in song and legend, the Fitzgerald’s tragic final voyage is a compelling story. As Canadian author Elle Andra-Warner tells of the most famous Great Lakes shipwreck, she masterfully weaves in the lore and history of the men who sail these unsalted seas.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

Reviews

[Emerson Stokes]

A short but captivating book on the history of the Fitzgerald, its sinking, and the memory afterwards. I was originally planning to read only a section of the book but ended up reading all of it in a day. Would recommend to those who want a general overview of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[Barbara]

This well-researched book begins with some history of shipping on the Great Lakes, which may appeal more to readers with an interest in ships than to the general public. However, those who want action should be patient, because the historical background builds up to a tale that will enthrall any reader: a hair-raising recounting of the last hours of the now-famous lake freighter. In comparison, Gordon Lightfoot’s song is a lullaby.

“I couldn’t put it down” is a compliment from a reader but sometimes, “I had to put it down” is too. The tension is that powerful. This is an especially impressive feat when you consider that the reader already knows how the story will end. The author skillfully blends her narrative with actual transcripts of the messages sent between the captain of the Fitzgerald and another laker that was helping the crippled ship navigate through the hurricane-force storm. The reader can understand and even share the other captain’s sense of disbelief and disorientation when the Fitzgerald seems to be there one minute and gone the next. At this point, who wouldn’t want to keep going to learn as much as is known about the fate of the crew, the ship and the follow-up? The final chapters provide much of that too.

[Chris]

Comprehensive.

[Charles]

The Edmund Fitzgerald is a tragedy that deserves to be remembered until the end of time. There have been songs written about this event (some of them where written the same week the ship sank) there are documentaries and of course books like this one. I found my self buying this book because I didn't know every thing about this event, so I read through this book and found out that it was quite good and was very interesting.

The writing of this book is really good, I never felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page or some kid's school essay, the writing was more diverse than that. I learned some things I didn't know not just about the Edmund Fitzgerald, but also about lake Superior itself, I didn't know that president Lincoln wanted a brighter light house at Lake Superior during the civil war.

Edmund Fitzgerald: The Legendary Great Lakes Shipwreck is a very good read, I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history of this ship.

[Diane Ropelewski]

I was sorting through some books at home and I happened to come across this book. Of course I am familiar with the song by Gordon Lightfoot. I also live on one of the Great Lakes so I felt like I should know more about what happened.

The Fitzgerald was headed from Superior,Wisconsin to Detroit, Michigan with a load of taconite. On the voyage the ship encountered rough waters, howling winds and snow and ice. It was described as "The Perfect Storm". The ship sank in Canadian waters near Whitefishpoint, Michigan with 29 crew members aboard.

There are various theories about what exactly happened that day. Some say the ship needed repairs and that it would have withstood the storm if those repairs had been made. Others say the combination of waves, wind, snow and ice as well as freezing temperatures made it impossible to finish the journey and for the sailors to survive,

I found this book very interesting and quite detailed. I had always been aware of this ship and the legend, but reading this book made me more knowledgeable about what did and probably did happen on November 10, 1975.

[Rachel]

This was incredibly written and definitely left me feeling very heavy-hearted.
Not only was it super informative for those of us just beginning to really learn about the tragedy, it told about more than just that! It did a really good job at setting the scene of the shipwreck by first telling about other shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the superstitions and legends surrounding Lake Superior, etc.
This is all coming from someone who has the attention span of a squirrel and has trouble reading through any books that aren’t your typical story books.
The way this was written, it had the feel of following a story versus just reading about an event (if that makes sense)
Definitely recommend to anyone wanting to know more about that fateful night of November 10th 1975!

[Denver Kroeger]

Having already watched two documentaries and read about the ship before, I found this book to be much of the classic information on the Fitzgerald. However, this book broke down the actions of the ship and its sinking chronologically, while overlapping other similar shipwrecks that happened on the Great Lakes at the same time. Perfect for anyone working on a research paper or interested in the story of the “Big Fitz”.

[Cheyenne]

It was cool to read this book while sailing on the great lakes. I’m a Mariner out here and it put a couple things I didn’t already know together, as far as specific locations. Overall, I knew most of what was written in this book. I choose to read it in hopes of finding more info I didn’t know before but there wasn’t much. But thats really just because I researched it before. Quick easy read and would recommend to those who have heard of the Fitzgerald but not familiar with details.

[Nathan Ewing]

This was a great book. Having been to the soo locks and seeing the two lifeboats now knowing more about this historic shipwreck is great. One of the reasons I liked this book so much is because it was so informational and kept you hooked the whole time.

[Jay Gabler]

One of the best concise books about the wreck. I interviewed Elle Andra-Warner for the Duluth News Tribune.

[Sherri Anderson]

This book was good. I enjoyed the chapters on the different searches after the sinking.

[Brad]

Fun read. This short book gives the reader a good picture of the E. Fitzgerald tragedy. Well done Ms. Andra-Warner.

[Deb]

This was a really interesting summation of what happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald. I read this in preparation of seeing the Fitz's bell at the museum at Whiefish Point.

[Kevin Jane]

Excellent book on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It gives background on the family as we as chronicling the fateful last voyage of the Fitzgerald. A great read for an afternoon.

[Christine Staszak]

Great book with lots of history and facts about Lake Superior.

[Lisa]

A quick capture of the ship's heritage, history, its final crew, and the intrigue around her sinking.

[Luigi Benetton]

Events described to the extent they’re understood, along with background to set the stage plus what has happened since.

[Sydney Therien]

really cool to hear abt the whole story and not just the gordon lightfoot song

[Roxann]

The Edmund Fitzgerald has become part of the folklore of the US. A couple songs have been written about the sinking and many books. This book read like a history type books (timeline). I learned a couple facts about Lake Superior. I learned a great deal more about the ship itself. After all the research, equipment, video tapes, etc. no one still really knows what exactly happened that night in 1975. This is a good book to read if you want to learn about what took place that night and the attempt for search and rescue.

[Aranka]

4.5

This book was well written and researched providing a summary of the Edmund Fitzgerld’s life and end. I like how traditional history was also included about the lake and its storms. Having read a few books on the Fitzgerald I still learned a few new things in this short read. If you only have a short time to learn about the wreck this book is a concise option.

[Joel K]

This is a really good novel on the Edmund Fitzgerald. The auther did a great job explaning in depth how the Big Fiz went down. This book has no sequels. But if it did i would read them. Some questions i have are how did it really go down? Its like a mistry. i loved this book.

[Harriet Smith]

Listen to Gordon Lightfoot's song as you get to the part about the actual shipwreck.
Reading this book with the back story after reading the Somali pirate hijacking in A Captain's Duty tied things together, Merchant Marine-wise.

[Tessa]

I'm guessing this is neither the best nor worst book on the Fitzgerald disaster. It gave me the information I wanted in a format that was not annoying and for that I am grateful.