Raymond D. Bowman

Raymond D. Bowman
Bowman at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre (Los Angeles) in 1963
Born	(1917-09-04)September 4, 1917 Green Valley, Virginia, United States
Died	December 30, 2001(2001-12-30)
Occupation	Music Critic, Concert Promoter, Pearl Harbor Survivor

Raymond DeArmond Bowman (September 4, 1917 - November 30, 2001) was an important American classical, jazz and ethnic (world) music critic, concert promoter and writer, based in Southern California. He was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941 and was an early member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

He was born in Green Valley, Bath County, Virginia but moved to Long Beach, California with his family at the age of 3, As a child he became a prodigy violinist, encouraged by his mother who had a love of classical music.

His mother was Vesta Virginia Bowman, one of the founders of the Long Beach Symphony Society. His family survived the 1933 earthquake and his mother made soup for the neighborhood in the front yard of their Loma Avenue home, which was damaged. He attended and graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach. He became very active in sports and set several records in track and field. He remained a lifelong sports fan, especially track, baseball and football.

He went on to Columbia University in New York, where he obtained degrees in literature and journalism. Returning home, he became a member of The California Junior Symphony Orchestra and appeared in the motion picture "They Shall Have Music" in 1939. (Note: Although Bowman appeared in some scenes in the movie and was a member of the orchestra, he wasn't able to play when the orchestra actually recorded the music for the soundtrack, so isn't actually heard on the score).

He enlisted in the Army in late 1940 and was sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Ironically a few weeks later, he witnessed the attack by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 while stationed at the Army base. He was about to play a game of tennis when the attack began and quickly found himself firing a machine gun at the planes from a bunker wearing only his tennis outfit. During the war he worked in counter-intelligence in the South Pacific and rarely saw action for the rest of his enlistment because he was stationed on small outposts in the Pacific most of the time. His combined active and reserve enlistment lasted 17 years. He attained the rank of Master Sergeant.

In 1951, he married an English woman named Margaret Alderson, but they soon divorced. He was Adjutant of the Hollywood American Legion Post 43 during the mid-to-late 1950s and was active in veterans affairs. He was one of the original members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and signed the incorporation papers a year after it was formed in 1961.