Introduction to the Gus & Julia Interviews
When Gus Bowe died on February 6, 1966, it wasn’t just headline news in the Chicago Tribune. The New York Times reported the news as well. And over at the Chicago Daily News, Mike Royko took time out from his usual piece about a politician run amuck to recall and note Gus’s passing with regret. Royko said of Gus, “He made it the hard way, first building a reputation as a fine lawyer, achieving financial independence, being active in civic affairs, and then being elected as a blue-ribbon candidate to head the Municipal Court.” For Royko, Gus was one of the few men in public life who always said what he thought. For him Chicago had just lost a rare bird, a public official given to calling things the way he saw them. He ended his column with the lament, “The town is already duller.” Tony Bowe was only nine in 1966, but he still remembers Mayor Daley at his grandfather Gus’s wake, the packed crowd at Holy Name Cathedral, and the police escort to Evanston’s Calvary Cemetery where Gus was laid to rest.
Recognizing that Bill Bowe, Gus and Julia Bowe’s nephew, is the last member of his generation who knew Gus and Julia well, Tony suggested that the two of them collaborate in making a permanent record of aspects of their lives that might be of interest to other family members down the road.
Three video interviews made in early 2021 captured all the central topics Tony and Bill wanted to cover: (1) how Bill got to know Julia and Gus; (2) how and who Julia and Gus entertained; (3) their interest in the arts; (4) their volunteer work and civic engagement; (5) Gus’s political life and election in 1960 as Chief Justice of Chicago’s Municipal Court; (6) evolution of their law practice from Bowe & Bowe to Bowe, Bowe & Casey; (7) stories of the Canavan and Bowe families in America and relationships among the siblings Gus, Bill and Anna; and (8) a brief summing up by Bill as he now looks back at Gus and Julia.
Go ahead. Boldly plunge into one of the eight topic videos on this list. You’ll find these eight longer topic videos sit prominently at the top of the separate video clips each subject area is comprised of.
Or put your little toe in the water by picking one of the shorter individual video clips in each of the eight sections to get started. These clips are mostly 1-3 minutes in length, so you’re unlikely to get bogged down.
To help you navigate the videos further, in their lower right corner, click on the grid of three parallel lines on the bottom right of your selection. That’s the Chapter Icon most of the clips have. It gives you a preview of what’s in the clip and let’s you easily jump around to what interests you.
However you approach it, you’re bound to get a better picture as to what made Gus and Julia Bowe so exceptional and memorable.
Gus and Julia Bowe
The Tony Bowe Interviews of Bill Bowe
The Bowes Together at 1120
Gus Bowe: Decent, Competent and a Refined Common Sense
Julia Bowe: Scholarly and a Savior of Poetry Magazine
John and Julie Anne: Ships Passing in the Elm Street Night
Paris with Julia and Gus
Paris Haunts: The St. James Albany Hotel
Driving Gus and Julia Down Bowe Memory Lane
Julia without Gus
An Evening with Julia & Gus at 4D
Gus’s Brilliance: There’s Ibsen & Dickens, but then There’s the Gobi
Following Dickens in Gus’s Footsteps
Dinner with Adlai Stevenson III and U.S. Sen. Paul Douglas
Saving Poetry Magazine and Entertaining Visiting Poets at 4D
An Acquired Love of the Arts
Poetry, Opera & Painting: The Freborgs, Joan Mitchell & Claes Oldenburg
Near but Far Away: Catching Up with Claes Oldenburg
Gus Sets the Way Forward: The Lyric Opera
Religious Views and Engagement
Work to Improve Race Relations under Three Chicago Mayors
Mayor Richard J. Daley Slates Gus for Chief Justice
Putting a Stop to Budget Finagling or a Hand in the Cookie Jar
Columnist Mike Royko Finds Chicago Duller after Gus’s Death
Judge Bowe Goes Missing
Gus Chairs Landmarks Commission as Garrick Theater is Razed
A Public Wake and Funeral
The Bowe & Bowe Law Firm: The Early Years
Bowe & Bowe: Interrupted by World War I
Bowe, Bowe & Casey: The Later Years
Moses Bowe & Honora Hurley
Ellen Canavan Bowe at Lyon & Healy
Ellen Bowe, with John Casey & Ray & Raymond Walters
Relations Among the Siblings: Gus, Bill & Anna
John Bowe & Ellen Canavan
Ellen Bowe & Education: Gus Reads Ibsen & Dickens
The Mission Art Company
Gus & Julia & the Kids: Home Alone? or Dumped with Bill & Mary
The Family Struggles
Jim Hart’s Memoirs: Gus, Bill, Ellen & John Canavan
Julia & Mary Bowe & Their Formidable Mother-in-Law Ellen Bowe
Julia & Mary Bowe: Over the Years
Final Thoughts: Bill Bowe Reflects on Gus & Julia
Tony & Bill Bowe: Thinking about Next Steps
