Paul Bowles, American composer and author (b. 1910)
Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910 – November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his life.
Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making several trips to Paris in the 1930s. He studied music with Aaron Copland, and in New York wrote music for theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with his first novel The Sheltering Sky (1949), set in French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931.
In 1947, Bowles settled in Tangier, at that time in the Tangier International Zone, and his wife Jane Bowles followed in 1948. Except for winters spent in Ceylon during the early 1950s, Tangier was Bowles's home for the remainder of his life. He came to symbolize American immigrants in the city.
Bowles died in 1999 at the age of 88. His ashes are buried near family graves in Lakemont Cemetery, in upstate New York.
1999Nov, 18
Paul Bowles
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Events on 1999
- 21Jan
United States Coast Guard
War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board. - 12Mar
Czech Republic
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO. - 8Apr
Indian National Congress
Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress. - 29May
International Space Station
Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station. - 27Nov
Helen Clark
The centre-left Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.