John U. Bacon Explores Personal Stories in “The Gales of November”

Author John U. Bacon has written extensively about sports and history, but his newest project takes him onto the waters of the Great Lakes. His upcoming book, The Gales of November, is set for release on October 7, 2025, marking the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking in Lake Superior. Bacon’s book focuses not just on the tragedy, but on the people whose lives were tied to the ship.
   Bacon sat down with the Sun Times news to discuss his new book, beginning with what made him decide to revisit the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy.
   “I’m an Ann Arbor kid. Grew up on the Great Lakes, Traverse City and so on. If you grew up in this area, of course, you’ve been on Lake Michigan. You’ve been on Lake Huron, Lake Erie, probably Lake Superior at some point or other. We’re surrounded by [the Great Lakes],” Bacon said. “I realized how little I actually knew about the Great Lakes. That was stunning by itself. I know even less about Great Lakes shipping and how important it is and how we depend on it. And that brings us, of course, to the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
   Bacon was 11 years old when the Fitzgerald went down in 1975. What has driven his work now, nearly 50 years later, is not simply the storm itself, but the people lost. “I was more curious about the 29 men that the bell rings for, and we know almost nothing about them. Who were they? What were their lives like? How are their families doing now, all these questions, that’s what really drew me to it. And of course, the 50th anniversary is this coming fall.”
   Building Trust with Families
   In researching the book, Bacon connected with relatives of the crew members. “It was very gentle at first, a very careful coaxing process to make sure you didn’t scare anybody off. They’ve been approached by a lot of people. They’ve talked to no authors, to my knowledge, so they’ve never talked before. But once we built the trust, once we got it going, the stories were fascinating. Just what their dads and uncles and cousins and boyfriends, in some cases, were like, that was really gratifying,” he said.
   Bacon added that the conversations underscored how raw the grief still feels. “If you lost your dad when you’re 12 years old and now you’re 62 it still hurts. It doesn’t change very much. You get used to it, perhaps, but you don’t get over it.”
   Learning the Lakes
   Despite growing up in Michigan, Bacon admits he was surprised by what he learned. “The [Great Lakes] are bigger than all of New England plus the state of New York. I didn’t realize just how big they really are,” he said.
   Commercial sailors told him the Great Lakes can actually be more treacherous than the ocean. “It turns out that with a 700-foot iron ore carrier like the Edmund Fitzgerald, you can have your bow stuck in a 30-foot wave and then nothing for eight seconds, and then your stern is stuck in a 30-foot wave, also with nothing between. So that’s where some of these ships, like the Morrell and Bradley, would actually crack with 26,000 tons of iron in them. There’s a real danger in the Great Lakes.”
   Navigation, he learned, is also far more demanding than on the open ocean. “On the Great Lakes, if there are 300 ships at a time plying these waters, you have traffic jams in Detroit and Port Huron and the Soo Locks. It’s very tricky, and the captain has to know and do all of it. Whereas in the oceans, of course, the Harbor Master takes over your ship when you get near port or you’re leaving port, and a tugboat guides you in so you can go smoke a cigarette and read a book, and no one cares. So it is much, much harder to be a captain on the Great Lakes than it is to be a captain on the oceans.”
   Sailing the Fitzgerald’s Route
   To better understand the crew’s experience, Bacon retraced the Fitzgerald’s path. “I got on two ships. It’s very lucky. I got on the Wilford Sykes and the Arthur M Anderson. And those are the ships with the Fitzgerald out that night. So these three are running in a pack, basically, and communicating with each other throughout this trip. And I imagine getting two of those ships is all I could do, of course.”
   He sailed from Marquette to Zug Island on the Sykes and from Duluth to Toledo on the Anderson. “Man, I got lucky at a lot of levels. One is that the weather was perfect, and the waves were nothing. So it was a pleasure cruise compared to what these guys were going through. But I also had the chance to thank God I did this, because I would never have felt the scale of this whole operation. How gigantic these engines are, 7000 horsepower. These ships are 700 feet just to walk to breakfast. It takes a few minutes just to get there…What these guys do. The scale of it all. And it was a wonderful trip for me. Amazing.”
   A Personal Impact
   For Bacon, the project became more than research. It reshaped how he sees sailors’ lives and sacrifices. “Sure, it changed me. I’d be about the same age as the captain, as some of the crew. Most of them are in their 50s and 60s, and I just turned 61, which I still can’t believe, but that’s how that one goes,” he said.
   He recalled finishing his trip on the Anderson in Toledo, then being reunited with his son. “He runs full blast, and he’s about eight at the time, and gives me a hug I could never got before, and how Hold on for a minute. And then I thought, ‘This is what it was like to be one of these sailors. And this must be what it’s like to lose your dad. This is how close you were, how much you miss your dad already.’ And that can’t help but affect you.”
   Bacon said the experience left him with a deepened appreciation: “You’ve got to think how much we owe these sailors on a regular basis. Without these guys, our economy doesn’t work. We don’t even know this. The cement in your basement, the steel in your car, the foot of your table, it all comes from Great Lakes ships. And I had no sense of this before this, but then again, the personal connection as well.”
   What’s Next
   While The Gales of November will keep him busy on a 30-stop, 15-state book tour this fall, Bacon has other projects in motion. “In the meantime, we’re turning the great Halifax explosion, a previous book, into a play. So that’d be pretty cool. I’m working on my third draft of the screenplay for Let Them Lead about coaching hockey here. So we have interests in Hollywood about that as well.”
   The Gales of November is set to be released on October 7 and can be found on Amazon.com.

By Doug Marrin, The Sun Times News

Golden opportunity: Kingston’s Great Lakes Museum celebrates 50 years

The Great Lakes Museum was founded in 1975 by a group of divers conducting underwater archaeology in Lake Ontario.

Author of the article:Bill Hall
Published Sep 08, 2025

The Great Lakes Museum threw a party to celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday.
   The facility opened its doors to the public and hosted children’s activities and community and heritage organization booths hosted by the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps, Canada’s Penitentiary Museum, Museum of Health Care, Parks Canada and others.
   Live music was provided by the local band Brass Over Tea Kettle — a brass band that plays unique renditions of popular tunes.
   Behind-the-scenes guided tours of the museum were in demand as local food vendors fed the visitors with domestic and exotic dishes. There was even birthday cake.
   For one day only, at a discounted rate, the museum offered exclusive 20-minute “Sneak Peek” tours of thBep Schippers, executive director of the museum, said the celebration was a testament to the enduring connection between the community and its maritime heritage.
   “For half a century, we’ve been preserving these important stories, and with the addition of the S.S. Keewatin to our collection, we will continue this legacy for generations to come,” Schippers said.
   The Great Lakes Museum was founded in 1975 by a group of divers conducting underwater archaeology in Lake Ontario. Since then, the museum has grown significantly, now located at its historic waterfront property at 55 Ontario St.
   The visitor experience manager, Claire Notman, drew attention to the museum’s historical significance.
   “Many Kingstonians aren’t aware that we are a National Historic Site, with much of the original features and machinery still intact from the original 1890s construction,” Notman said.e S.S. Keewatin –the world’s last surviving Edwardian-era passenger steamship.
   The museum sits on the location of the first dry dock in Canada on the Great Lakes and its accompanying pump house. It still has the original steam engines and pumps that were used to empty the dry dock, what Notman calls “engineering marvels.”
   Visitors were allowed to get up close to the pumps and engines — 15 feet below lake level.
   Kingston and the 1000 Islands Cruises coincidentally also celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. According to the Great Lakes Museum board chair Kelly Pope-Wiley, the two attractions teamed up for special historical cruises.
   “The Shipwreck Tours have been running all summer and will continue into October,” Wiley said. “A tour guide uses digital photography of the shipwrecks to explain what happened to the vessel as the tourists cruise right over the actual site of the sunken ships.”
   Find out more about the GLM at greatlakesmuseum.ca.
   [Full story and pictures can be found at the link below]

https://www.thewhig.com/news/golden-opportunity-kingstons-great-lakes-museum-celebrates-50-years?fbclid=IwY2xjawMxGSZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHozEPDQwefSCPhjnVnPtVJ9BKaoeIoImiSD7T6XXsNiOEmWbQiZXy2boJi3N_aem_JxAP8x30nx3FSf3GZ7ZO5A

National Museum of the Great Lakes Announces Exclusive Curator
Tours for Dark Waters: True Crime & Mystery on the Great Lakes

Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes (NMGL) isoffering visitors a rare opportunity to go beyond the exhibit walls with Dark Waters: Curator Tours, guided by the exhibit’s curator and the museum’s Director Emeritus, Chris Gillcrist. Step into the shadows of Great Lakes history during these exclusive tours, where Gillcrist shares untold stories, chilling details, and insider insights into how Dark Waters: True Crime & Mystery on the Great Lakes came together.

Tour Dates & Times

• Saturday, Sept. 20 – 10:15–11:15 a.m. | 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 25 – 10:15–11:15 a.m. | 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 1 – 10:15–11:15 a.m. (Final opportunity to see the exhibit.)

Tickets: $20 NMGL Members | $40 Non-Members Museum admission included. Registration required. Find out more at nmgl.org/events.

All tours take place in the temporary exhibit gallery at the National Museum of the Great
Lakes. Dark Waters is recommended for ages 13 and up.
   “These tours let me share what didn’t fit on the labels—the research, the curatorial choices, and the questions that still keep me curious,” said Chris Gillcrist, Director Emeritus and curator of Dark Waters. “We’ll look closely at the artifacts, connect them to the people and decisions behind each case, and talk about where the mysteries remain.”
   Participants will explore all seven stories featured in the gallery while discovering additional accounts, hidden details, and deeper context behind the artifacts on display. The exhibit is scheduled to close at the end of October 2025; the Nov. 1 tour offers a final, limited-access viewing before deinstallation.
   Tickets are available now at nmgl.org/events. Space is limited.

Detroit Historical Society hosts several events for 50th anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald sinking

By: Max White

   (WXYZ) — The Detroit Historical Society is hosting a full weekend of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
   According to the society, the activities all take place at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle, and will kick off on Friday, Nov. 7, with a talk by author Thomas Nelson, who wrote the book “WRECKED: the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Sinking of the American Economy.”
   On Saturday, Nov. 8, curators and docents will host drop-in tours of the Edmund Fitzgerald exhibit on the lower level of the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. Also, the Great Lakes Maritime Institute will be there for information and merchandise.
   Also on Saturday, the Livonia Amateur Radio Club will be in DeRoy Hall for the Edmund Fitzgerald radio broadcast, and a new pop-up exhibit will debut.
   Sunday morning, the museum will host its first-ever Maritime Brunch, which will feature a chef-prepared meal directly from the Edmund Fitzgerald’s on-ship menu, along with a video presentation from Ship-to-Shore Chef Catherine Schmuck.
   During the brunch, a new film will premiere about the Edmund Fitzgerald with experts from around the Great Lakes. Tickets for the brunch are available now.
   Finally, on Monday, the society will host its 26th annual Lost Mariner’s Remembrance, which is a tribute to the sailors who were lost on the Great Lakes. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and begins with a lantern vigil at the Fitzgerald’s bow setting. Officials say the event sells out every year, and tickets are available now.
Click to see Full story and videos:  https://www.wxyz.com/news/detroit-historical-society-hosts-several-events-for-50th-anniversary-of-edmund-fitzgerald-sinking?sfnsn=mo&fbclid=IwY2xjawMsZ1VleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHi7V_IMl1KDLaV2aLwAgHT9l68-iG1GT4NPz0DBD_7FrGRv3vNimb9LJi74Q_aem_jJq4jLDiDZj4tCbMK3qspw