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Inspiration

The Inspiration that led to S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online

Many visitors ask how this website originated and why it was originally created by a fourteen year-old (he is currently twenty-five). After all, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank 10 years before his birth, and he was not related to any of those on board. The answer to this question, in one word, is: school.

When Tim McCall was in the eighth grade, students were assigned a project to cover different disasters in history. When originally introduced to the Edmund Fitzgerald, young McCall thought that it was a person. It was not until he researched it further that he discovered it was in fact a freighter that sank on Lake Superior with no survivors. He was intrigued by the mystery and the uncertainty surrounding the sinking, and also the rarity of having no survivors, so he began researching the Edmund Fitzgerald for his project. It was not until about three weeks into his project that he got the idea for a website. Though he had never considered creating a website before, the thought of having a place to compile his information and sharing it with anyone desiring to know more interested him. He felt that not enough people knew about the wreck, or, at least the men. The website originally consisted of barely 10 web pages, and has grown to the site it is known as today. SSEFO has become the most popular Edmund Fitzgerald site on the internet, serving hundreds of thousands of Edmund Fitzgerald enthusiasts, with over 2 million visitors in its first 10 years online.

Along with the website, (which was not a required portion of the presentation) Tim also gave an oral presentation and presented a booklet of research. Some selected components of the original research are still available on the site to this day, interspersed throughout new content.

After originally creating the site and presenting his project, many family members contacted Tim and have become close friends since. Tim is very honored with what the site has become and with the amount of approval the site received from family members.

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online. Copyright 2000-2008. All Rights Reserved.