Along Lake Michigan: Shipwreck Stories of Life and Loss by Michael Schumacher
Kenosha’s Michael Schumacher has become the John Gurda of Great Lakes shipwrecks, writing histories that combine the social with the personal. His latest, Along Lake Michigan, examines 14 shipwrecks on the only great lake contained entirely within the U.S. He begins with the 1847 boiler room explosion that set the ironically named Phoenix on fire and concludes with the 1940 blizzard that roiled the waters, wrecking three ships. He includes background on the industries and immigration that filled those ships with cargo and crews, and on the thinking that led skippers to risk everything rather than wait until the weather cleared. Radio, radar and advances in weather forecasting have limited maritime disasters on the lakes in recent years, but freak storms can still stir and, as Schumacher writes, “human foibles can lead to disastrous results.”
Buy Along Lake Michigan on Amazon here.
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