The old Free Press building where Billy Bowles worked
Back in the day when the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press were not joined at the hip, and the papers were in separate buildings, there were some legendary local journalists
Billy Bowles of the Free Press was certainly among them.
Bowles died Wednesday at his home in Georgia at age 83, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Detroit Free Press reporter Tresa Baldes writes:
As a journalist, Billy Bowles had a penchant for chasing hard news stories and was well-known in Detroit for his no-nonsense approach to reporting.
During his distinguished career, which spanned several decades, Mr. Bowles was an award-winning journalist who covered the Vietnam War and other high-profile stories.
Bowles apparently inspired his son Scott Bowles to go into the profession. Scott worked for the Detroit News and Washington Post before going on to USA Today, where he currently works
Scott tells the Freep that his father never shied away from asking tough questions.
“Once, he interviewed a preacher accused of beating a kid until he died and he let me come along,” Scott said. “He let me see the real world and didn’t try to sugarcoat it. Dad, he was my journalism school. Dad was my teacher. I watched him write and gained a love of it.”
Bill Mitchell, a former Freep reporter and colleague of Bowles posted this on Facebook:
Sad to share the news that Billy Bowles, one of the finest men and certainly the best reporter I’ve known, died in his sleep yesterday in Atlanta. No details yet on funeral arrangements. Billy was absolutely one of the giants of Detroit journalism. And so much more.
Joe Swickard, another former Freep reporter, wrote on Facebook:
Billy Bowles was simply the best reporter I have ever encountered: no cut corners, no pretense and an acute BS detector. Meticulous, fair, tireless, thorough and a long string of other superlative adjectives just begin to describe him and his work. After working with him you always had a nagging little voice in your head letting you know that Billy would have done it better.
-- Allan Lengel
