39 years ago

[FmGrowit]

I was born in Cleveland and had a lot of family who lived in and all around the city. My Grandfather worked for Republic Steel and I remember watching the ore ships off-load. I was 15 years old in 1975 and for whatever reason, this event always hit a soft spot in me...made me see a vulnerability...my own mortality. I guess that's a good thing for a 15 year old. I'm very lucky to have grown up living on and around the Great Lakes. There's nothing like standing on the shore of any of the lakes, looking out and seeing nothing but fresh water.

13 of the men lost in the wreck were from Ohio. All from places I've been to and know.

 

[bryonlr]

Nice post Don

 

[ArizonaDave]

Real nice! My Dad lived in Akron for a few years, and worked there as well, he always had wonderful memories of the area.

 

[deluxestogie]

That tragedy would certainly have been forgotten by most Americans, had it not been for Gordon Lightfoot's ballad. Before the age of literacy, ballads were the repository of history.

Bob

 

[DrBob]

my neighbor worked on that ship. He worked alternate trips and this was his time off. He never worked another boat again, it really bothered him.

 

[Chris A]

I'm nearer to Lake Michigan and enjoy any time fishing for Salmon & Steelhead. Of course, her islands & bays are for sportsmen.

 

[Michibacy]

A good late friend of mine was a merchant marine who got called out and also picked up the SOS over the radio. To the day he died he said it was one of the worst things he had experienced. They felt like they lost a brother even though he didn't know the sailors aboard. "Rest in peace ye' souls of the sea."

 

[BarG]

That tragedy would certainly have been forgotten by most Americans, had it not been for Gordon Lightfoot's ballad. Before the age of literacy, ballads were the repository of history.

Bob

Thanks for that Bob, I'll be hummin it all night now.

 

[Desertpipe]

My Great Grandfather was a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes, and is buried on the shores of Lake Superior. My Great Uncle was involved with the operation of the Soo Locks, and I can remember as a child sitting in his back yard watching the ships in the St. Mary's River. My Father was Navy, and I remember talking with him about the wreck, and reading about it at the time. Had the opportunity to sit with Gordon Lightfoot in a bar after he had performed that tune in a set, and explained how that song had always brought back memories of the news and conversations of the events of that storm.

 

[Bex]

Had the opportunity to sit with Gordon Lightfoot in a bar after he had performed that tune in a set, and explained how that song had always brought back memories of the news and conversations of the events of that storm.

Wow. I hadn't listened to my Gordon Lightfoot albums in almost (eek) 40 years. I took them out after reading this thread, and listened to them again. Suddenly, I was back in college, and remembering things I hadn't thought of - and memories I thought I'd lost - in all those decades. The passage of time is a disconcerting thing. All those memories fade away to some unknown place - the fabric of who you become - and come to the fore again in the most unexpected places. This was one of those places.....Thanks!

 

[DGBAMA]

Wow. I hadn't listened to my Gordon Lightfoot albums in almost (eek) 40 years. I took them out after reading this thread, and listened to them again. Suddenly, I was back in college, and remembering things I hadn't thought of - and memories I thought I'd lost - in all those decades. The passage of time is a disconcerting thing. All those memories fade away to some unknown place - the fabric of who you become - and come to the fore again in the most unexpected places. This was one of those places.....Thanks!

Music is a universal language.

 

[Bex]

Music is a universal language.

And food for the soul....

 

[Brown Thumb]

And food for the soul....

I ate a lot of blotter listening to Pink Floyd, Crosby Stills Nash, Ect.

 

[BarG]

I never grew up on any big lakes, just a River. There aint nothing better than being there and feeling your roots of where you belong, and your ancestors.! Alot of people are scared to be out in the woods on the river. Hoodoos might get them. I am not kidding. I have met several people scared of that stuff. Especially at night by the dark of the moon, by themselves. I thrive on the solitude of being on the river at night with or without company.

 

[Bex]

I ate a lot of blotter listening to Pink Floyd, Crosby Stills Nash, Ect.

We are all showing our age here....

 

[Bex]

Alot of people are scared to be out in the woods on the river. Hoodoos might get them. I am not kidding. I have met several people scared of that stuff. Especially at night by the dark of the moon, by themselves.

They probably saw the Blair Witch Project one time too many.....