George Walker was born in 1946 on Sapelo Island, Georgia—a small Gullah Geechee community founded on the fourth largest barrier island in the 1700s, 60 miles south of Savannah, in McIntosh County. That was a popular year for births on the island, following World War II and a busy year for the only midwife on the island. Mr. Walker was unable to complete high school, which would have been helpful during his pursuit of his captain’s license. Mr.