(Photo courtesy of Powerline A.D. at http://www.powerlinead.com)
Edited by Erika Stack
Brian Bowe, Communications specialist, professor, and student at Grand Valley State University will be publishing his first book.
“Judas Priest: Metal Gods” is included in a series titled “Rebels of Rock” and targeted for fifth grade audiences.
Bowe took a personal interest in writing the book because, as a child, Judas Priest was one of his favorite bands. He wanted to create a book that was age-appropriate but still emphasized the band’s history.
“We listened to those guys a lot; it very much the sound of my childhood in a lot of ways,” Bowe said. “(Writing the book) was a great process for me. Part of the challenge was making it appropriate for the audience, but I feel like I was able to balance it well.”
Fifth grade also happened to be when Bowe discovered Judas Priest.
“When I wondered what to do, I would kind of try to talk to my fifth-grade self and think ‘what would’ve I wanted to read about?’” he said.
Even though Bowe still considers music a significant part of his life today, it is his childhood love for rock that influences him most.
“It was a very important time for me as I was discovering music,” Bowe said. “There’s power behind music and I was very much attracted to it.”
Bowe’s fascination with music continued to grow throughout his teen years, eventually inspiring him to join several bands as a guitarist. He kept up with the music scene by reading various rock magazines, like CREEM and Circus.
Fast-forward to his college years at GVSU, where he discovered a love for journalism.
“I loved writing the feature and entertainment stories,” Bowe said. “When I was hired at Grand Valley I still had that music-writing itch that I couldn’t get rid of.”
Bowe continued to write freelance for local and national publications in print and online, but had to stop for a while to focus more on his book, which took a year to finish.
He is now back to teaching.
“I really missed being around students and their energy they bring to the classroom,” Bowe said.
Now with a Masters degree in Communications, Bowe has been working at GVSU for eight years.
“Brian is great to work with,” said Dottie Barnes, a Communications specialist and professor at GVSU. “He is easy-going, kind and never complains about working with a bunch of women. Truly, he is irreplaceable.”
Bowe’s main job at GVSU is working as a Communications specialist for News and Information Services..
As a professor, Bowe taught several different courses, but this semester he is teaching vision and culture.
“One of the things I love about coming here every day is the diversity of viewpoints, cultures and languages on any level,” Bowe said.
Bowe, a self-proclaimed “cultural omnivore”, also has a special interest in Arabic, and is currently is in his fourth and last semester of learning the language.
“I’ve had a long-standing fascination with Arab music, culture and food,” Bowe said. “I was a little kid when I started paying attention to what was going on in the world and was attracted to the Arab culture.”
Still, despite his many interests, Bowe continues to indulge his musical cravings and scratch his writing itches.
“It’s a never-ending process for me and will continue on for the rest of my life,” Bowe said.
“Judas Priest: Metal Gods” is now available at http://www.amazon.com
Bowe will release two more books for the “Rebels of Rock” series on The Clash and The Ramones next year.
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