PICTURED: Norris Bowen Sr. in a scene of Hog Island documentary, "Our Island Home."
The place: The Painter fire hall.
The time: A Saturday, almost 20 years ago.
The activity: The all-day Virginia Driver Improvement Program.
The instructor: Norris R. Bowen Sr.
When I saw Bowen was teaching the class, I slumped in my chair a bit.
He worked with my mother at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. He graduated from high school with my aunt.
Bowen was a family friend, and everyone’s friend. I had hoped the teacher would be someone I didn’t know.
As it turned out, Bowen was exactly the right person to be teaching the class.
When Bowen died last week, I was reminded of his poignancy and strength that day as he spoke of his late son.
Norris R. Bowen Jr., died in a car crash in 1998. His death cast a pall over the community.
His son had movie-star looks and a fabulous stage presence. He did magic under the name “Norris the Magician.” He performed in plays at the North Street Playhouse.
It is hard to believe Norris the Magician has been gone for 22 years. He was 37 when he died.
In driving school, Bowen the father talked about the death of Bowen the son.
A man teaching us about the dangers of driving was talking first-hand about the dangers of driving.
It was moving and heartbreaking, emotional and profound.
I remember thinking that someone should have filmed it for viewing in high-school drivers’ education classes.
Of course, Norris Bowen Sr. was captured on film talking about happier subjects. The last baby born on Hog Island, he appeared in documentaries about life there.
Bowen served his country, retiring first from the military, and then served his community as a police officer, most notably with the bridge-tunnel.
Above all, Bowen was a kind man and a true Eastern Shore gentleman.
And that day back in driver’s school, on an anonymous Saturday in a dimly lit fire station, he was one of the most eloquent and thoughtful men I’d ever heard speak.