Robert Sidney Bowen

Born in Boston in 1900, Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. lived the kind of life that sounds like the start of one of his own stories. He served as a World War I aviator, then worked as a newspaper journalist and magazine editor before becoming a prolific author.

Bowen wrote widely, but he is especially known for aviation and wartime fiction for younger readers. His best-known work includes the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the Red Randall books, stories that drew energy from his background in flying and his feel for action-driven storytelling.

He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1977. Today, his books are remembered for their brisk pace, patriotic spirit, and their window into the adventure fiction that appealed to many young readers during and after World War II.