Severn Hosts "Black Hawk Down" Author

By John Singleton
Long before 2010, as Somali pirates make world news on a nightly basis, U.S. troops were sent to Somalia on a humanitarian mission. In 1993, President Bill Clinton ordered American soldiers into the nation to prevent armies of bandits from starving innocent African people.

“It started out as a successful mission. Thousands of lives were saved,” recalled Mark Bowden, author of the nationally acclaimed bestseller, “Black Hawk Down.”
“These bandits were stealing UN food rations and selling them to buy more weapons,” explained Bowden, who visited Severn School in November to recount the writing of his award-winning book along with the screenwriting he performed for the Academy Award winning film of the same name.
For the students at Severn, it was quickly evident that Bowden is a veteran reporter with a unique gift for complex storytelling.
“The lecture was really cool,” shared ninth grader Jack Munroe. “I was amazed at how hard it was for Mr. Bowden to get the information to write the book. He was incredibly brave, and had to work really hard. I didn’t know that writing a book could be so dangerous.”
To recreate the American military’s attempt to capture warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and disrupt his genocide on the Somali people, Bowden journeyed to the country years after the infamous Battle of Mogadishu. Severn freshman Jamie Soderlund was most intrigued by Bowden’s attempt to enter Somalia and his account of the difficulties as the first American reporter on the scene of the battle.
“Every morning fleets of small engine planes left Kenya for Somalia to deliver a drug called ‘khat.’ That was the only way into Somalia,” recalled Bowden. “From there I had to hire a well-armed militia of about 20 Somalis with a modified Toyota pick-up and a .50-caliber machine gun bolted on the back, to get into Mogadishu.”
The lawlessness of Somalia has changed little in the last 20 years; hundreds of thousands have been killed. In 2010, the UN published a report stating the Somali government’s security forces are corrupt, and that up to half of the food aid provided by the U.S. and others is being misdirected. It also identified Somali government officials as working hand-in-hand with Somali pirates who routinely raid international cargo ships.
“When I get a chance to lecture on a college campus sometimes I ask for a show of hands from those students who consider themselves anarchists. It’s a trendy moniker, so I usually get one or two,” said Bowden. “My advice to them is - you don’t have to wait. If you want anarchy you can find it in Somalia.”
Bowden’s connection to the area is through his brother, Drew, a Millersville resident. Drew and Madeline Bowden have two children, Grace, who is sophomore at Severn, and Cole, who is in the eighth grade there.
Mary Gayle Horne of Severna Park is Bowden’s sister. The Bowden’s, a Catholic family of eight brothers and sisters, all of whom attended Dulaney High School, hail from the Timonium area. Mark Bowden is the product of Loyola University in Baltimore, where he taught for nine years.
He highly recommended the field of journalism to the students at Severn, warmly recalling his 30-year career at the “Philadelphia Inquirer.” Today, Bowden teaches at the University of Delaware. He is married and has five children.
“I’m proud of my brother Mark, he’s just a wonderful guy and a great writer,” summarized younger brother Drew. “Like the saying goes - he’s an overnight success 30 years in the making.”