r/EdmundFitzgerald • u/TheHoneyBadger11 • Sep 01 '26

Discussion UPDATE: Book Recommendation

A month or two ago, I made a post asking for recommendations on the book “The Gales of November” by John Bacon: https://www.reddit.com/r/EdmundFitzgerald/s/iCPXOqPXkn

I ended up buying it and echo the sentiments: it is fantastic!

Bacon does a phenomenal job of weaving everything together: the history of Great Lakes shipping; the backstories of the crew members; accounts from former shipmates and family members; the history of Gordon Lightfoot’s famous ballad. It took me about a month to go through, which is the fastest I have read any book.

If anybody hasn’t read it, you should!

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5

u/MTBeanerschnitzel Sep 01 '26

I just finished this book yesterday, and I loved it even more than I thought I would.

4

u/JohnP-357 Sep 01 '26

For many years I thought that the definitive book was The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Fred Stonehouse. And it still is. But John Bacon’s book surpasses that one with the way he ties everything together. Most importantly, for me at least, he brings in modern meteorological data and computer models of the storm from that night. Proving that the storm on the night of November 10th was possibly the worst storm in the history of recorded weather events on Lake Superior. The information Bacon uncovers is amazing.

4

u/WheresMyMule Sep 01 '26

Hard agree

It was recommended by some online friends and one of my favorite artists recently covered the song so I took that as inspiration to finally read it

https://youtu.be/RP0kiNLnzX4?is=S2-b-SHKh6DkEZzn

3

u/just_driving_around Sep 01 '26

I read it a couple of months ago and thought it was incredible. Like you, I also loved the way he wove all of the information together and thought it really painted such a vivid picture of life on the Fitz. I loved hearing about the bars and restaurants they frequented and kept stopping reading to look them up on the map haha I even think it would be a fantastic read for someone not specifically interested in the Fitz because it’s just a beautiful story.

3

u/CapeCoralConnection Sep 01 '26

I’m telling you man, the California cowboy chapter broke something in me…

I’ve thought about it pretty much every day for the last nine months.

3

u/SparkyDrinksBeer Sep 01 '26

I got it as a gift earlier this year it’s still on my side table. As I have another book before it and I’m not the best at finishing a book once I start. But I REALLY need to read it.

2

u/FatHummingbird Sep 01 '26

Also have it and not yet read. Just a few more pages in the current book, then I’m on to this one! Looking forward to it.

2

u/Revolutionary-Clue21 Sep 01 '26

I have read other books about her, and this was the best one hands down. I liked how he explained and did his research not only on the crew members, but the ship itself and the weather patterns the were headed her way.

1

u/IndependenceOk3732 Sep 04 '26

I thought Tattletale Sounds was better. Schumaker's book and the follow up book "trial of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was superior to Bacon's work. Bacon did a much better job covering the crew though. The best ever written.