By David Fleet
Editor
Brandon Twp. — From 6-7 p.m., June 14, the Brandon Township Public Library, 304 South St., will host Michigan author, Mike Fornes who will present Edmund Fitzgerald: The Stories, The Song.
“If you live in any of the Great Lake States or Ontario, the story and the song are part of our history,” said Fornes, a Mackinaw City, resident, scuba diver and sailor in the Northern Michigan area.
Fornes has performed for a decade at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum’s annual bell-tolling ceremony for the lost souls of the Edmund Fitzgerald at Whitefish Point, in Lake Superior during a storm on Nov. 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men.
“The ship is in 530 feet of water and has been illegal to dive to the wreck since 2006, unless approved by the Canadian government in whose waters it lies,” he said. “The wreck is a grave.”
Successful lobbying by the victims’ families has halting diving on the ship.
His interaction with surviving family members of the lost crewmen, and Lightfoot himself, generate many first-hand accounts of the tragedy and of how the iconic song was written.
Fornes has covered the Mackinac Bridge for more than 20 years for several media outlets in Northern Michigan, including radio and television stations and the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
The event is free and open to the public.