Today is the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and it just so happens I’m reading John U. Bacon’s recently released book about it, The Gales of November.

Strangely enough, even though I was 20 at the time, I don’t recall reading or hearing about the sinking when it happened.

In fact, the first time I heard about it was listening to Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And even though I loved the song I remember thinking that it was referring to something that happened many years prior, not something that happened less than a year earlier. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized how close in time the sinking and the song about it were in relation to each other.

Then, just a few months ago when we visited the Great Lakes region, my interest in the sinking was spurred by our tour of the Soo Locks. In looking for books on the subject I came across Bacon’s upcoming (at the time) book and reserved it at my library.

A couple of days ago it became available to borrow and I’ve been engrossed in it ever since. And it struck me that I would still be reading it when the 50th anniversary of the sinking happened, which felt strangely like some kind of fate was at work.

Anyway, I have read about 35% of the book so far and it is very engrossing. And the story hasn’t even reached the sinking yet, but the lead up and history is so intriguing and captivating.

If you have any interest in the subject, this is an excellent book to read about it and I highly recommend it.