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Key Points John U. Bacon’s new book revisits the Edmund Fitzgerald disaster 50 years later. Based on 100+ interviews, it blends firsthand accounts with newly uncovered evidence. The book honors victims' families and explores the enduring mystery and cultural impact. Fifty years after the SS Edmund Fitzgerald vanished in the stormy waters of Lake Superior, bestselling author John U. Bacon (The Great Halifax Explosion) revisits the tragedy in his sweeping new 464-page history, The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the sinking, Bacon’s book promises to be the most comprehensive account yet of the disaster that claimed 29 lives and inspired Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” According to the description on Barnes & Noble’s website, Bacon’s narrative is built on “more than 100 interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost.” The author “draws on those voices to explore the lives behind the headlines and the heartbreak that still echoes across the Great Lakes.” RELATED: The Mystery of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald: What We Still Don’t Know 50 Years Later The Story Behind the Tragedy For three decades after World War II, the Great Lakes were the industrial heart of America. As Bacon writes, “The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today.” The Fitzgerald — a 730-foot ore carrier nicknamed the “Mighty Fitz” — was its crown jewel: the largest, fastest, and most profitable ship on the lakes. But on November 10, 1975, during what sailors called “the storm of the century,” the Fitzgerald found itself at “the worst possible place, at the worst possible time.” Winds topped 100 miles per hour, waves reached 50 feet, and the freighter plunged suddenly beneath the surface, taking all 29 men aboard with her. Bacon’s book places readers aboard the ship during its final hours while also documenting the decades of investigation, mythmaking, and mourning that followed. He also revisits how Lightfoot’s emotional story-song helped cement the tragedy’s place in cultural memory. RELATED: Gordon Lightfoot’s Haunting Tribute: How ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ Became His Finest Work New Reporting and Familiar Voices Drawing from more than 100 new interviews, Bacon builds his account around those who lived in the aftermath — wives, sons, daughters, and friends whose lives were permanently altered. He includes newly unearthed correspondence and Coast Guard records to re-examine the Fitzgerald’s final radio messages and the mysterious break that split the ship in two. The book also clarifies the most likely causes of the sinking while honoring the mystery that endures. Bacon notes that even with modern modeling, “what actually happened may never be completely clear.” That uncertainty, he argues, is part of what gives the story its power. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 An Emotional Tribute At its core, The Gales of November is not just investigative — it’s mournful. Bacon writes of “the wives, the sons, and the daughters,” echoing Lightfoot’s verse about the families of those lost, and brings to life the quiet endurance of the people who gather each November 10 at Whitefish Point to hear the ship’s bell ring once for every man lost. Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, the book blends maritime history with human emotion. As the Barnes & Noble listing notes, “The Gales of November is both an emotional tribute to the lives lost and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America’s most-mourned maritime disaster.”
