1930-1998
J. David Bowen:
Consummate 'Bookman'
On the wall of David Bowen’s rare book shop, On Paper, in San Antonio
was a Samuel Johnson quotation that read, “Booksellers are generous,
liberal-minded men, the true patrons of literature.”
And, according to Bryce Milligan, a San Antonio poet, novelist, critic and
arts administrator who eulogized Bowen in the February 27, 1998, issue of The
Texas Observer, few individuals so completely fit that definition as
David Bowen.
Today, Bowen’s generosity is benefiting students at The University
of Texas at San Antonio. When he passed away on January 23, 1998, he left
the first choice of his rare book collection to the UTSA Libraries and the
bulk of his estate to create an endowment to fund European study/travel opportunities
for undergraduates in the University’s College of Liberal and Fine
Arts. His desire, according to his will, was “to expose the students
to cultures where history is ever present and commercialism does not have
the last word.”
The grandson of Jewish immigrants from Germany, Bowen was born in
New York City in 1930 and grew up in New York and Chicago. After graduating
from Harvard in 1951, he earned a master of arts degree in Latin American
history at the City College of New York while also making a name for himself
as an off-Broadway actor and Latin American travel writer.
Bowen arrived in San Antonio,
Texas, in 1966 as part of the planning staff for HemisFair ’68,
and he never left the city he had grown to love. In the ensuing years,
he came to be known locally as the “dean of San Antonio actors”
as well as the consummate “bookman” through his rare book
shop and Corona Publishing Company, which he started in 1977 to feature
the works of Texas writers.
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