Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
It seems that we can’t get enough of the life and disastrous end of the Edmund Fitzgerald
and one might think that just about everything has been explored in
books. There are a dozen or more books, including two for children, on
the freighter taken by Lake Superior during a November 10, 1975, storm.
This latest version by Thunder Bay author Elle Andra-Warner, who often writes for Lake Superior Magazine, may be the only Canadian-produced publication on the subject, although the Fitzgerald actually lies in Canadian waters.
Unlike many of the other book authors, Elle, while
knowledgeable about the region’s maritime history, is not a maritime
expert. Consequently, her focus is more on the people and the story
itself rather than details that intrigue boatnerds. She starts by
tracking the Fitzgerald family after which the vessel is named and the
boats that bore their names before the Edmund Fitzgerald (including an E. Fitzgerald
that wrecked on November 14, 1883, in a snowstorm on Lake Erie). She
digs up curious particulars such as the “first” song written about the
tragedy (the one by a Duluth professor, not by Gordon Lightfoot) and
that the Edmund Fitzgerald after whom the boat was named suggested
alternate names for the vessel.
The slender book does a good job of introducing the people
involved and, especially for those interested in but not obsessed with
the Fitzgerald story, this is a nice primer.
 – KLM
Gitche Gumee - Songs from the Lake, by Don Charbonneau
If you’re looking for a little road-trip music on your Circle Tour of Lake Superior, check out the latest CD by Don Charbonneau.
You can be assured that Don, who also works as a fishing
guide out of Wawa, Ontario, knows Lake Superior. He also knows music,
as do his backup musicians and those who produce his CDs locally.
This collection has both the most-requested songs about the region from his past albums plus six new tracks.
The quality of the production makes listening to these folk
tunes a pleasure, and Don’s natural balladeer voice brings you into the
tales told.
You can check out a sample at www.doncharbonneau.com.
– KLM
Minnesota’s North Shore, by Craig Blacklock
If the book is photography by Blacklock, it’s obvious that
Lake Superior will be the star and the quality of images will be high.
But in his newest photographic book, Minnesota’s North Shore,
Craig Blacklock unveils a range of moods and scenes that better
integrate the life of the lakeshore into a marvelous interlude.
As you would expect, Craig delivers his well-known wild
vision of the north woods and many of his images add the texture of
places that make them come alive to your eye: silky waters of
fast-flowing rivers; gossamer veils on lichen-draped spruce; gritty,
sand-paper shore stones ablaze in orange lichen.
This book also pops with sometimes delightful and sometimes
stunning surprises. Craig introduces readers to a glorious blue iris
being admired by a small mosquito, and a curious ermine and an earnest
pine marten turn up on the pages. Other views unveil rocks that appear
to float on clouds and a foreboding boomerang of a storm cloud over a
wind-whipped shore. Sailboats, fishing boats and a lingering look at
Grand Portage National Monument are all relatively new views to
Blacklock admirers and bring a more genuine journey to the lake.
The pacing of the book, because it follows the shore north to
the border rather than following season to season, might be
disconcerting for some. You pass quickly through a full year of
seasonal phases within a few pages and then back and forth again. If
you savor the images rather than rush through, however, you’ll find
that you rediscover what you love about Lake Superior and you’ll also
find fresh reasons to care about its future.
Besides some new views, Craig Blacklock brings something
extraordinary in this book-DVD package … the magic, true magic, of the
lake in motion. With his practiced eye, Craig has created a three-hour
experience of the lake region throughout the seasons that runs through
the gushing waterfalls and spawning fish in spring, the gallop of wind
through autumn leaves and the creaking near-silence of an iced-over
winter day. An original sound track by Ryan Rapsys with additional
music by Peter Mayer add a soothing element to the images. The music,
however, can be turned off to leave only the sounds captured at the
shore. Nothing beats the sound of lapping waves to bring the lake into
your living room.
– KLM
Northland Storm Chaser and Extreme Northland videos, by Alex Sahlberg
What these videos lose in taping and production quality, they
certainly make up for in enthusiasm … in this case the enthusiasm of a
young man who lived his short life on Park Point in Duluth always
fascinated by the weather.
Alex Sahlberg died unexpectedly at the age of 18, but he had
already accomplished a lot in his chosen field of weather watching. He
was an official Minnesota storm chaser and had done an internship with
a local television station, KBJR-TV. He had been a Park Point weather
watcher for the channel since he was 11.
In 2004, Alex produced his first video, “Severe Atmosphere,”
under Vortex Storm Productions based on his nickname of Vortex Alex. He
dedicated the production to two of KBJR’s meteorologists: Dave Anderson
and George Kessler.
Alex’s family would put together the second videotape,
“Northland Storm Chaser,” after his death. It includes some of a
shoreside memorial to Alex including a wonderful story about how Alex,
as a 3-year-old, grabbed a small bush in his yard and shook it hard
declaring: “I make wind!”
Wind, lightning, hail, high waves, blizzards and any of the
other fascinating weather that Lake Superior churns up were all part of
what Alex most enjoyed. Whenever he could, he videotaped these
occurring (often from the doorway of his own garage on Park Point).
These videos show some exciting footage of high winter waves,
water swells so high that they touch the bottom of the Aerial Lift
Bridge, as well as blizzards, lightning and a small “snow devil”
whirlwind twisting across lake ice. The quality of taping is not always
the best, partly because these are storms, after all, and partly
perhaps because of the young age at which Alex started taping. He would
have grown even more into the role of storm videographer, no doubt.
Another minor annoyance for folks like me is the placement of the logos
across the lower third of the second video. It distracts from some of
the wave action Alex caught on tape.
For those who can never get enough of wild weather, these
tapes can bring the delightful gray bluster of Twin Ports storms into
your home even amid those annoyingly beautiful, sunny and blue, Twin
Ports days.
– KLM
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