Gordon Lightfoot, A Friend of NMC Mariners

“When the gales of November come early …”

On November 10, cadets at NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City will host the 40th annual Mariners Memorial Service, the same day the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk in Lake Superior in 1975. The service is in honor of mariners who have perished on the Great Lakes and the oceans.

Two Great Lakes Maritime Academy (GLMA) cadets – among the total crew of 29 – lost their lives aboard the ore carrier that day.

Though the tragic event became immortalized through Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” few know of Lightfoot’s connection to NMC.

Shortly after the release of the song in August 1976, Lightfoot performed at the former Glacier Dome in TC (now home to Cherry Capital Foods) before a sold-out crowd.

According to an NMC press release dated Oct. 23, 1976, “the balladeer announced midway through his performance that he would donate $10,000 toward establishment of a scholarship fund” in honor of the two GLMA cadets.

Lightfoot’s contribution was spurred by the success of the song – which ultimately reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a number one hit in Canada – and was increased by a $1,000 donation from concert promoters and an additional $600 gift from students. Lightfoot then presented the checks to NMC founder Les Biederman.

Lightfoot’s interest in the Fitzgerald accident came from his own love of sailing and “in the ballad he wanted to point out the danger of Great Lakes sailing,” the press release also stated.

The financial contribution didn’t end there, though. In 1999, Lightfoot designated a portion of proceeds from sales of his D-18GL Gordon Lightfoot Limited Edition signature guitar to the scholarship fund. He also allowed the song to be used in the IMAX movie “Mysteries of the Great Lakes,” contingent on a significant donation to the NMC fund.

The Canadian crooner, now 76, was named an NMC Fellow – the college’s highest honor – in 1989 for his financial contributions to the institution's maritime program, which has provided financial aid for dozens of students.

Lightfoot has returned to Traverse City for performances – most recently in summer 2014 as part of the Interlochen Arts Festival. He also appeared at Interlochen in 2005 and 2009.

The 40th annual Mariners Memorial Service, which is sponsored by the Student Propeller Club, Port 150 of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, begins at noon at the Great Lakes Campus (715 E. Front). Guests are invited to enter through the glass exhibition hall and proceed into the outdoor courtyard on the north side (harbor side) of the Academy.