Peter L. Waters has just finished his first year of law school at the University of Michigan. With the help of Jamie, Peter's bride-to-be, he lands a great summer job aboard the Great Lakes freighter the "Edmund Fitzgerald." Determined to give his future bride the wedding of her dreams, Peter decides to skip the fall semester at law school to work aboard the ship. If all goes well, the bonus he'll earn will pay for their wedding and launch their new life in style. The decision will cost him his life. Based on the actual sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald, " which occurred on November 10, 1975, the last days and hours of the crew members-including the captain, first mate, cook, a father-and-son engine room team, a lawyer-hating deckhand, and Peter-are imagined in this work of contemporary fiction based on a tragic reality in Michigan's history. The "Edmund Fitzgerald" slipped below the waves that fateful November night in 1975, and her story remains one of great sorrow and mystery.