Ironic, considering the professor and playwright derives so much creative inspiration from Lake Superior and its surrounding region. The play opens at Northern Michigan University Nov. 8 two days before the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. The title is based on the final words uttered by Capt. Ernest M. McSorley before the Fitzgerald disappeared beneath the surface.
Lake Superior is the largest body of freshwater in the nation.
Russell lives and works a stone s throw from the south shore. In her mind, she has spent the past year on an ore boat, immersed in thoughts of what transpired during the final hours of that ill-fated voyage. The play focuses more on the crew and the context in which the event occurred than on the Fitzgerald and why she went down. Two things fascinated me about this story, she said. The first is man and technology.