Echoes of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 years later

CLEVELAND — Fifty years ago this month, the Great Lakes reminded us of their power — and their peril.

On Nov. 10, 1975, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald vanished beneath the icy waters of Lake Superior. All 29 crew members were lost when the Cleveland-owned freighter went down in a fierce November storm.

Operated by Cleveland's Oglebay Norton Company, the Fitzgerald was a familiar sight along the Great Lakes, hauling iron ore between Duluth, Toledo, and Detroit. Many of the men aboard had roots along Ohio's northern shore: Ashtabula, Fairport Harbor, Richmond Heights, Lakewood, Bay Village. and North Olmsted.

"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee…"

Those lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"