Monday, November 10, 2008

The legend lives on



Perhaps of limited interest to the readers of this blog, today is the 33rd anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I won't go into details here. The wikipedia entry is quite a good summary. I usually mark the day by thinking about nautical disasters in general, and my father, because this is one of his favourite songs. I still haven't contacted him. I still need to contact him.

I don't know what it is that makes nautical disasters so compelling for me. I think of a line by Dar Williams: "I thought the ocean; the ocean thought nothing." Maybe it's because despite the incredible human ability to anthropomorphize and personify almost everything in our environment, the ocean resists, absolutely. It is not kind, it is not cruel; it just is.

3 comments:

Green Weaver said...

Yeah, jeez. The Edmund Fitz played a sizable role in my childhood. My mom ran in a team from her hospital in the annual Edmund Fitzgerald Ultramarathon in Duluth. We'd always do some history and it fueled the ensuant Titanic obsession that my dad and I shared.

Also, you are right and you can do it.

NoRegrets said...

I love the song. The only thing I know about the event is from the song. Hopefully it's true...

Squirrel said...

Song does a really good job of relating the story, from everything else I've heard or read. One thing the song doesn't mention: the last words broadcast by the captain that night. "We are holding our own."

Green Weaver - can't wait to see you Saturday!