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Gil Dodgen, Magazine Editor/Computer Programing Genius/Concert Pianist
Through hang gliding I've met many wonderful people who have enriched my life. None more-so than long-time editor of HANG GLIDING Magazine Gil Dodgen without whose photographic sensibility, I might never have been recognized for my work. I believe that Gil's appreciation of my pictures and willingness to use them ongoingly; are the factors that motivated me to push the limits of this rather odd art-form we call "glider-mounted photography".
Because of Gil, I had a forum from which to show the hang gliding community my ideas, expressions and accomplishments. Once I had the friendly receptive attention of this great intelligent man (who was among many other things creative director for the magazine) I was inspired to try things that had not been done before, always with the goal of showing USHGA members (and possibly our society in general) the great joy of flying high above the surface on one's own personal wings.
I should mention here that my initial inspiration for trying my hand at hang gliding photography were the pictures by LeRoy Grannis, Eric Raymond and Ed Ceasar. Their early images in HANG GLIDING Magazine were incredibly enlightening to me. I knew that there was something magical happening when I stared into those pictures. They made me feel like I was along for the ride on that flight.
Gil Dodgen understood what I was doing without even talking about it. I didn't recognise it at the time, but I now see that Gil and I had a symbiosis. He needed pictures and I provided some of them. I needed a forum and he provided that. The relationship was lop-sided though. What I supplied to Gil was a minor part of his existence, but what he gave me was a very important factor in my success and acceptance by the hang gliding community as a photographer. The last time I saw Gil, I told him that so much of what is good about my life is due to the exposure he gave me in the pages of HANG GLIDING Magazine. He didn't accept credit of course. Gil was a class act.
When Gil first became interested in hang gliding in the earliest days of the sport, he made many flights off Steptoe Butte, a roughly conical hill a thousand feet tall near his home in the Palouse agricultural area of eastern Washinton State. He was hooked on the feeling of silent flight, which along with his writing and editing skills made him singularly suitable to become the future editor of Hang Gliding Magazine.
Gil is a Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi graduate of Washington State University in Pullman with three degrees in music and foreign language. Gil was a professional musician and played concerts, entertaining audiences with his interpretations of classical standards. He recorded three albums of his classical piano music. Back in the mid eighties when I knew him as the editor of HANG GLIDING Magazine, he generously donated all three to my vinyl collection(which I still have) . Gil wore all hats at HANG GLDIDING Magazine in the days when "cut and paste" meant actually cutting with a razor blade and pasting with paste. Each color photo(35mm transparency) needed a color-separation in order to be printed. There was enough money for two color photos each month: The cover and the centerspread. The only other color pictures were in ads paid for by the advertisers. That almost always included the back cover ad, which Bill Bennet had a lock on for his manufacturing company Delta-Wing Gliders for many years.
Gil was a natural at computer programing. Using a combination of coding skills and intellect, Gil wrote a program in the early days of personal computers that won a checkers competition. His program beat all other checkers programs in the World.
After his long term as HANG GLIDING editor, Gil worked for Roy Haggard's company, Virtigo as a software engineer writing code for GPS-guided cargo parachute systems. Gil was very intelligent, productive and a great guy. My great condolences to his family and friends regarding his much too early passing.
Gil's album on Amazon
Hang gliding video with Gil's music