It is the summer of 2019, and the gloom of the frightful Covid 19 pandemic had not yet settled on our world. One bright Sunday morning, I called Rwanda Airlines pilot David Johnson of Dominica – a distinguished and experienced aviator. After our usual chat about the governance of our island and related matters, I reminded David that we must do an interview. Irving Andre and I have always felt it the duty of Pont Casse Press to record 0ur people’s history – especially those who have accomplished much.
Such an interview with David would, in my mind, inspire young people to greatness by following role models such as himself. I urged David towards such an interview by stating, “David, you must be the only Dominican pilot flying African skies.” “No,” he quickly responded. “I am not. Another Dominican is doing what I am doing. Captain Hodge of Ethiopian Airlines flies all over Africa and beyond,” he went on. I had not heard of Captain Hodge’s aviation exploits and was so fascinated that I immediately researched his profile online.
Within minutes I had found Hodge on Linked In. I quickly messaged him and in no time, my phone rang. A very resonant and authoritative voice came on. “What’s going on, Gaibu?’ He said. It was Hodge.
Time and distance may have dimmed my memory, but Hodge was on target. He reminded me that we knew each other and that his mother, Agnes Hodge, had been a nurse. He further stated that his mother had worked with my mother, Alberta Christian, when they were young nurses in the early 1960s.
Hodge was born in 1965 from the union between Agnes Hodge and bus driver Joseph Hodge.
“How did you get to be a Captain at Ethiopian Airlines, ” I asked? Captain Hodge went on to tell a fascinating story. He was born at the Princess Margaret…