Dodge Morgan

Dodge David Morgan (January 15, 1932 – September 14, 2010) was an American sailor, businessman, publisher and "self-proclaimed contrarian.

"[1] He flew fighter jets in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s, worked as a newspaper reporter in Alaska, and became a millionaire by operating Controlonics, a company that manufactured Whistler radar detectors from 1971 to 1983.

[2] On reaching adulthood, Morgan joined the United States Air Force and flew jet fighters.

Morgan later recalled that he was trying to land at Presque Isle Air Force Base when his engine flamed out and the plane crashed into the Maine woods.

"[3] After being discharged from the Air Force, Morgan attended Boston University, where he received a degree in journalism.

"[1][4] Interviewed in 2005, Morgan said that, after his children, the accomplishment that made him proudest was "the culture of openness that I felt responsible for at my company.

[6] He sold Controlonics to "follow a dream I had years before on the old schooner, to sail around the world on a boat which was designed for that.

One in each set was programmed to come on twice a day during daylight hours and run for 30 seconds, thus enabling Morgan to film himself.

Morgan departed from Ordnance Island, in St. George's, Bermuda, on November 12, 1985, and returned there on April 11, 1986, completing the journey in 150 days, 1 hour, and 6 minutes.

[6] As the American Promise sailed into St. George's Harbour, Morgan's project manager, Grant Robinson, noted that the boat looked spit-and-polished.

"[6] As Morgan disembarked, his wife, Manny, and his two children, Hoyt David and Kimberley Promise, embraced in a family hug that was cut short when he was handed his favorite food, a cheeseburger.

"[6] But his journey brought real dangers, including a tropical storm in the South Pacific that battered the boat with 70-mile-per-hour winds for three days.

[12] When the paper was finally shut down, Morgan said, "I don't want to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for money buried in a small-market weekly newspaper.

[8] In a feature story, the Boston Globe described Morgan's island as "30 acres of dense cedar forest and fragrant fern, spongy moss and scaly lichen, cattail bog and rockweed shore smack in the middle of Quahog Bay.

"[8] In 1999, the Maine chapter of the American Institute of Architects gave the compound a design award and called it "a triumph of programmatic virtue in a natural setting that demands nothing less.

[2][11] In September 2010, Morgan died at age 78 from complications from cancer surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

F-86 Sabre fighter jet
Honour guard provided by TS Admiral Somers , Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps awaiting the arrival of Dodge Morgan and the American Promise on Ordnance Island , on the 11 April 1986