BOOK DISCUSSION: Great Lakes/Great Books

Now in its 11th season, Great Lakes/Great Books meets the first Thursday of the month September – May to discuss books that have the Great Lakes as setting or subject matter or that are related to water and/or the Great Lakes region. All are welcome, whether you have read the book or not! This month’s selection is Too Much Sea for Their Decks: Shipwrecks of Minnesota’s North Shore and Isle Royale by Michael Schumacher.

About the book:

Against the backdrop of the extraordinary history of Great Lakes shipping, Too Much Sea for Their Decks chronicles shipwrecked schooners, wooden freighters, early steel-hulled steamers, whalebacks, and bulk carriers — some well-known, some unknown or forgotten– all lost in the frigid waters of Lake Superior. Arranged chronologically and presented in three sections covering Minnesota’s North Shore, Isle Royale, and the three biggest storms in Minnesota’s Great Lakes history (the 1905 Mataafa storm, the 1913 hurrican on the lakes, and the 1940 Armistice Day storm), each shipwreck documented within these pages provides a piece to the history of shipping on Lake Superior.