My Duluthian Life

If you live anywhere near the Great Lakes, you know about the gales of November and some of the shipwrecks they've caused. But throughout history, and the 6,000 or more ships lost on those Lakes, we often never find out what really happened because nobody lived to tell the story. But in this episode, we have a startling exception--the sole survivor who witnessed the destruction and sinking of a freighter, the Daniel J. Morrell, and lived to tell about what unfolded, right before his eyes, in the wee hours of November 29, 1966. His name is Dennis Hale and this time on My Duluthian Life, after decades of silence, Dennis opens up about the horrors of the November nightmare he went through.  

Correction: The Daniel J. Morrell was built and originally owned by Cambria Steamship Company but was under the management of Bethlehem Transportation Co. at the time of her sinking.   

It was entirely too long since I've been back home, waiting out a global pandemic, among other distractions. In this episode, I'm homeward bound, reuniting with friends and memories--like on board the restored US Coast Guard Cutter Sundew, or just having a pizza at Sammy's. And Duluth always seems to have something new to me happening these days as well--like Duluth's only craft distillery, Vikre, where Lake Superior's water takes on a whole new spirit!   

Now with the pandemic slowly fading away, I've started traveling again--and getting back to Duluth, my hometown!  I'm working on a full-length episode about the trip but as I finish that, I thought I'd share this segment from it as a sort of preview. It's about the retired US Coast Guard Cutter "Sundew," that's been restored to operating condition again now, thanks to a lot of volunteer labor. She was built in Duluth during WW II in a matter of just about 10 weeks!  The keel was laid in late November of 1943 and she was launched the following February, to serve some 60 years on the Great Lakes. Here is her story. 

Twenty miles off Minnesota’s North Shore in Lake Superior lies Isle Royale. It’s a lonely, rarely visited place, even though part of America’s National Park system. Now, new research is revealing that a mysterious civilization began 9,000 years ago on that island and started a mining operation that thrived for four millennia. We still don’t know exactly who those people were or why they were there, working so hard, for 4,000 years.

Duluth is a port city and the sights and sounds of all those ships coming and going to and from all over the world are just part of every Duluthian's heart and soul. But for me, it goes even deeper. I grew up out there. My dad was the Chief Engineer of a Great Lakes freighter and, thanks to a shipping company that was determined to keep families together, I got to go with him! I discovered the awesome expanse of those Lakes and learned about the deadly dangers of a sailor's life first-hand.  

At the height of the Cold War, in the midst of a standoff between the world's nuclear super-powers, it wouldn't have taken much to set off WW III--and in fact, it almost happened one night all because of an incident in Duluth. At the time, Duluth was one of America’s most important strategic assets in case of a Russian nuclear attack. It was home to the most sophisticated military technology and weapons of the era. But its prominence as a likely nuclear target took an emotional toll on a lot of us, growing up at that tense moment in Duluth history.

Not everybody knows that the place we call Duluth used to be part of France, and that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area was once a bustling thoroughfare, creating fortunes as a supply line for the European fashion industry. Who was our namesake, this French guy Sieur Du Luht, and how did he end up here anyway?

No matter how far I may roam, I will always be a Duluthian. My name is Jim Hayden, and even as the accent continues to fade, this place where I grew up has left an indelible impression on me. In this edition, a little background about the concept of this series and some chapter headings and highlights of what we'll explore in the episodes that follow.