“Icebound; The Ordeal of the SS Michigan”

January 2, 2008

The Michigan Maritime Museum

Hosts

On Sunday afternoon, January 18, at 2:00 p.m., the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will host Valerie Van Heest, author, diver and shipwreck hunter, speaking to its members and the general public about the ordeal of the SS Michigan and its crew, after the vessel foundered in the ice off the West Michigan shore.

The presentation, held in the Padnos Boat Shed, will feature multi media images and continues the popular off season lecture series featuring authors and specialists addressing interesting topics of Great Lakes maritime history.

Ms. Van Heest is a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and co-founded Chicago’s Underwater Archeological Society, the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve and Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates. Ms. Van Heest has worked with nationally known author Clive Cussler, searching for the wreck of Northwest Flight 2501. She strives to advance the cultural preservation of shipwrecks and is familiar with the state of the art technology now employed as standard techniques by technical divers searching for shipwrecks.

Her lecture and book will feature the SS Michigan, which in 1885 departed Grand Haven only to later find herself trapped in Lake Michigan ice. The crew abandoned the vessel prior to her sinking and their efforts to survive is a tale similar to the trials later faced by Earnest Shackleton and the crew of Endurance. Ms. Van Heest and her team later discovered the wreck of the steamer, making for a riveting tale leading to the book winning the 2008 Michigan State History Award.

Ms. Van Heest will remain after the program to sell and autograph books and talk with the audience.

The general public is welcome and while the presentation is free, donations are gratefully accepted.