{"id":3916,"date":"2017-12-31T01:30:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-31T01:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/?p=3916"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:56:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:56:30","slug":"bookshelves-stephen-bowen-68","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/2017\/12\/31\/bookshelves-stephen-bowen-68\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookshelves: Stephen Bowen \u201968"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Bowen \u201968
\n<\/strong>Wabash Trustee
\nRetired Senior Partner, Latham & Watkins
\nGlencoe, IL<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThis is all religion and ethics,\u201d Steve Bowen says as he places his hand on a masterfully crafted maple bookshelf practically aglow in the late afternoon sun. It\u2019s about six feet wide and holds eight rows of books stretching to the ceiling on one wall of his nearly 5,000-book library.<\/p>\n

The entire room is lined with books organized by subject and author, from philosophy to history (subdivided into American, British, and World) to American Renaissance authors to literary criticism. Fiction and poetry start in here but extends into another room, where you\u2019ll also find biographies.<\/p>\n

Bowen points out a row of books by his friend, Professor Bill Placher \u201970. He talks of the books as if their authors live in their words.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerek Nelson is up here, though his biography of Martin Luther is in the front room. Steve Webb is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pauses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather read than just about anything,\u201d he says. \u201cAs long as I can read, life will be worth living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

WM: What do you get from reading that makes it such a powerful part of your life?
\n<\/em>Bowen:<\/strong> A sense of perspective, mostly. There is nothing entirely new under the sun.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>What is the first book you remember being read to you<\/em>?
\nEgermeier\u2019s Bible Story Book, <\/em>by my mother.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the first book that you read on your own?
\n<\/em>The first serious book, in grade school, was The Red Badge of Courage,<\/em> by Stephen Crane.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you have a favorite book as a child?
\n<\/em>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a young man<\/em>?
\nTo Kill a Mockingbird.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Is there a book you return to reading from time to time?
\n<\/em>Moby Dick <\/em>(about every five years).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there a Wabash professor\/author who shaped your reading, the way you see and understand the world<\/em>?
\nEric Dean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there a book you particularly <\/em>didn\u2019t enjoy reading, but are glad you read?
\n<\/em>Paradise Lost.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the funniest book\/author you\u2019ve read?
\nCatch 22<\/em> by Joseph Heller.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name a book that\u2019s good medicine for you?
\nEthics from a Theocentric Perspective<\/em> (two volumes) by James Gustafson.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name a book you read to your children.
\nAnne of Green Gables<\/em> (to my daughter).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name a book you and your wife read together.
\n<\/em>Many mysteries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name a book everyone should read.
\n<\/em>The Raj Quartet<\/em> (all four volumes) by Paul Scott or the Neapolitan Novels of Elena Ferrante.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you read all the books in your library?
\n<\/em>I\u2019ve read about 90 percent of what\u2019s in the front room (biographies), about 70 percent of the books in the big room. I\u2019m 70 years old\u2014I have lots of time.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Bowen \u201968 Wabash Trustee Retired Senior Partner, Latham & Watkins Glencoe, IL \u201cThis is all religion and ethics,\u201d Steve Bowen says as he places his hand on a masterfully crafted maple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":3917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-videos","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/table-with-remington-baseball-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3920,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3916\/revisions\/3920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}