disasters

Chris Knight's avatar

Those were the last words radioed out by the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

It was fifty years ago tonight, November 10th, 1975, that the Edmund Fitzgerald  – at one time the largest vessel plying the Great Lakes – vanished off of the radar of the other ships in the area.  She went down in the storm, taking twenty-nine men with her to the bottom of Lake Superior.

I’ve written about “The Fitz” on a few other occasions, like for the thirtieth anniversary (has it really been twenty years ago tonight that I posted that?).  There’s really not much more that I could write this afternoon that hasn’t been said already.

I can share this though, as I have a few other times before.  The year after the tragedy, Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot recorded and released his moving and haunting ballad about the ship and her crew.  “The Wreck Of ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

 A blue 1977 Volkswagen Type 2 van, untouched by flames, sits alone amid the ash of Los Angeles:

Volkswagen needs to purchase this from owner Preston Martin (who lived in the van for a year while in college) and put it on display in its museum.  That is one hardy testament to resilience.  Or else a fluke of nature, much like how a tornado will sometimes mow down everything in its path except for one solitary farm house which miraculously escapes unscathed.

However it happened, it’s an amazing story and Epoch Times has an article all about it....

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Chris Knight's avatar

It was on November 10th, 1975 that the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on the Great Lakes, sank into the depths of Superior. She carried twenty-nine men down with her.

The following year, Gordon Lightfoot recorded what is almost certainly his best-known song. It’s also one of my personal favorites, and when I found this on YouTube I had to post it here too.

Accompanied by video and photos from her construction on through her tragic end and beyond, here is “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”…

You can read more about the Edmund Fitzgerald at its Wikipedia entry.

And some years ago, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the disater, I wrote a retrospective about the ship and its good crew....

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Haiti is still reeling from a 7.3 earthquake two days ago that destroyed Port-au-Prince. A half-million people there or more might be dead in the rubble. The tiny island nation was already one of the world’s poorest economies and even that has been shattered beyond belief.

This is very much one of the worst natural disasters of modern memory. Some are saying that the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami pales in comparison.

As I wrote here yesterday, our thoughts and prayers should be with the people of Haiti. I have certainly held them up in my own time with God.

Just wanted to make it clear that I do have sympathy for what the Haitian people are going through. I can’t say that I have understanding though, ‘cuz honestly I’ve never been through something on this vast a scale. But does my heart break for the people there? Absolutely.

And I ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

Yesterday’s 7.3 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti is fast shaping up to be one of the worst natural disasters of recent memory. I’m hearing that this is the biggest tremblor in two centuries to hit the area.

Here’s asking this blog’s readers to please hold the Haitian people up in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come. Lord knows, they’re gonna need it....

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