Coast Guard Light Station Frying Pan Shoals is one of only seven  Texas Towers that were erected and placed into service. 

Located 28 miles SE of the mouth of the Cape Fear River, off the North Carolina coast, she is a lone sentinel standing watch over the shoals. 

From 1854-1964, except for a few years during the Civil War and World War II, there was a Lightship stationed at the end of the shoal to warn ships of the shallows that stretched from there to the point off Bald Head Island. After years of treacherous duty, the lightships were retired and replaced with this tower.

It was determined later that it woud be better if the tower were left to be run by computers. Michael was fortunate enough to be part of the next to the last manned crew aboard Frying Pan Light.

There were times during severe weather that the crew aboard the tower could hear a call for help from some vessel in distress. Though not able to actually render assistance, the crew could relay the message to shore units to initiate a response for assistance.

When the crew was removed from Frying Pan Light, it was as if the very soul of the tower was dissolved. These thoughts prompted Michael to write "The Lady"...the story of the transition from the lightship to the tower to the ultimate unmanned automation of the tower. In an odd prophetic way, 25 years after this song was written, it has been determined that the tower is to be removed.