Emmett Gowen Collection

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

            James Francis donated a collection of avid sportsman and novelist Emmett Gowen’s scrapbooks to the Albert Gore Sr. Research Center in January 2006.  Gowen, a native of Davidson County, was a prominent figure in the outdoors life community throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.  A self-made man, Gowen used his field expertise from the Tennessee forests and lakes to command expeditions in Mexico, Africa, and Central America.  These experiences translated well into a journalism career, as he contributed heavily to magazines such as Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, True, Argosy, Sports Illustrated, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and Sports Afield.  The high-spirited adventurer practiced his remarkable editorial skills for the Fourth Estate (now Editor and Publisher), composed scenarios for the Hollywood film industry, and reported for many notable newspapers, including the Nashville Tennessean.  Ultimately, his story-telling skills and colorful life experiences culminated into a livelihood as a novelist, and he penned several tales of mild to wide literary acclaim.  Honored in local publications as “one of the best writers in the business,” Gowen will be forever remembered as the embodiment of the cunning, adventurous Tennessee outdoorsman.