Sometimes, when we least expect it, we have a brush with history. For one Maple Heights resident, it happened decades ago after he took a job as a personal driver. That job, which started out paying $6, would later enrich his life with something money can’t buy.
Knowledge can be passed through history and time; for Clarence Bozeman, it came when he didn’t expect it.
Bozeman went to Alabama State University in Montgomery, where, during his college years, the dean sent him a letter recommending him for a job driving around a preacher and his family. That preacher was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The next day, Bozeman went to the King’s house, where the civil rights leader interviewed him for the job.
“He and I sat and talked for about 20 minutes, and finally, he said ‘Well, okay, I’ll give you job.’ He asked me — did I have a good driving record, that I have license, all of the above,” Bozeman said. “He told me what he expected of me, that is courteousness, and being on time and make sure that everybody was placed accurately where they were supposed to be — students, senior citizens and others.”