Skip to main content

Chester County Press

Uncle Irvin: Bowden a boon for Kennett

04/04/2017 12:38PM ● By Richard Gaw

Author and screenwriter Mark Bowden, who wrote the book “Black Hawk Down,” that was a New York Times best seller and was made into a movie, has decided to run for a seat on the Kennett Consolidated School District school board.
Bowden also wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer for a number of years. Uncle Irvin met him when he wrote a column for the Philadelphia Inquirer about journalism at small town weekly newspapers, and specifically a battle of words with a former Oxford school board president, Chauncey Boyd.
I bring this up because nationally renowned talents like Bowden, who was not born in the area, do not usually seek school board or municipality positions. In fact, I can't remember such a “famous” candidate in the last 40 years.
Bowden is obviously an exceptionally skilled writer, and that should be good for the school district. Uncle Irvin, however, cannot predict Bowden's influence because a great writer does not translate into a great school board member.
Hopefully, Bowden will be a good addition to the Kennett School Board, and so we wish him well.

(Uncle Irvin's column is his opinion only, and is not a news story.)