I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little more, as I grown older.

She was an accompliCatherine Drinker Bowend violinist who studied for a musical career at the Peabody Institute and the Juilliard School of Music but ultimately decided to become a writer. Bowen did all her own research without hiring research assistants and sometimes took the controversial step of interviewing subjects without taking notes. " She was survived by a daughter Catherine Prince; a son Ezra Bowen the Sports Illustrated and Time-Life writer and editor; and grandsons Ezra D.

She won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1958.