Carole Hopson

A Reading and Conversation: A Pair of Wings with Carole Hopson
Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Time: 4:00PM
Location: Francine Kelly Gallery at Featherstone Center for the Arts
Fee: free

Join us Wednesday, August 21st for reading and conversation with Carole Hopson. Journalist, executive, pilot and author, Carole will be sharing from her new novel A Pair of Wings - a riveting, adventurous novel inspired by the life of pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman, a Black woman who learned to fly at the dawn of aviation and found freedom in the air.

Carole Hopson flies the Boeing 737 for United Airlines as a Captain based in Newark, New Jersey. She flew for ExpressJet Airlines before joining United. After successful and varied careers as a journalist and as an executive, she followed her dream to become a pilot and to share that passion with others as a flight instructor––all while raising a family. She and her husband Michael, make their home in Jersey City, NJ with two teenage sons.​
Carole’s undergraduate work at the University of Virginia, followed by earning her Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, set her firmly on the path of her early love—journalism. Her first job in the field was as a stringer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Tribune, and after moving to New Jersey she joined the Bergen Record as a police reporter. ​
From journalism, Carole moved on to a variety of executive positions in the corporate world, first at the National Football League, then as Vice President/Director of Training and Development at Foot Locker, and later as the Director of Human Resources for Supply Chain Operations at L’Oreal. 

Despite achieving success in these varied fields, Carole still yearned to pursue her childhood passion. So at the peak of her corporate accomplishments, Carole walked away from executive-level positions in order to learn to fly. Today, Carole continues to share her moving personal story to youth and professionals of all levels who are looking to find their own pair of wings. 

---