The Enduring Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The Enduring Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Join us for a 50th anniversary panel discussion exploring the legacy of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald and her tragic sinking that claimed 29 lives on November 10, 1975.

Split Rock Lighthouse Site Manager Hayes Scriven will be joined by author John U. Bacon; Executive Director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Bruce Lynn; and former Split Rock Lighthouse Site Manager, Lee Radzak, for a conversation about why the history of the Fitzgerald continues to resonate so deeply across generations.

Though the wreck occurred in Canadian waters near Whitefish Point, the event has captured the hearts and imaginations of Minnesotans and Great Lakes communities for 50 years. When launched on June 8, 1958, the Fitzgerald was the largest ship to sail North America’s inland seas—and remains the largest ever lost on the Great Lakes. Each year on November 10, the loss is commemorated at Split Rock Lighthouse as a tribute to the Fitzgerald’s crew and all who have perished in Great Lakes shipwrecks.

John U. Bacon is author of 14 books, including The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald and seven national bestsellers. He has written for dozens of major American publications, appears often on national TV, and won NPR's prize for the nation's best commentary in 2014. He also hosts a popular leadership podcast, Let Them Lead, now in its second season.

Bruce Lynn is the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, located at Whitefish Point in Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula. He is co-author, with award winning Great Lakes Maritime Photographer Chris Winters, of The Legend Lives On, a richly illustrated meditation on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Lee Radzak was Site Manager of Split Rock Lighthouse for 36 years until his retirement in 2019. During his career, he oversaw three major restoration projects, grew the interpretive program, and helped to list Split Rock Lighthouse as a National Historic Landmark in 2011. Lee began his career with the Minnesota Historical Society as an assistant archaeologist in 1976. He is co-author of The View from Split Rock: A Lighthouse Keeper’s Life from MNHS Press.