Joseph Cowley was born on October 9, 1923. He graduated from Columbia University in 1947, interrupting his academic career to serve two and a half years with the Army Air Force during World War II. The last few months of service were spent overseas as a bombardier with the Eighth Air Force, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. He received his M.A. from Columbia in 1948 and taught English at Cornell University before entering sales.

Most of his career was spent writing and editing material on sales and management for The Research Institute of America. Taking early retirement in 1982 to devote himself to fiction, he moved with his wife Ruth to Lebanon, Ohio, to be near the eldest of their four children and the two grandchildren existent at the time. They now have seven grandchildren: Jesse, Noah, Sarah, Samantha, Eliot, Sophia, and Sean, and live on Long Island.

Joseph Cowley is the author of the novels The Chrysanthemum Garden, Home by Seven, Landscape With Figures, Dust Be My Destiny, The House on Huntington Hill; the plays The Stargazers, Twin Bill, and A Jury of His Peers; two collection of shorter fiction, one called The Night Billy Was Born and Other Love Stories, the other Do You Like It and Other Stories; and, with Robert Weisselberg, The Executive Strategist, An Armchair Guide to Scientific Decision-Making. He has also collected some of his favorite writings in a book called “The Best of Joseph Cowley” as a tribute to his deceased wife, who would never in life have allowed her photo to appear in or on any of his books. His latest book is a biography: John Adams: Architect of Freedom (1735-1826), published in August of 2009. He is currently condensing classic novels for a Japanese publisher.

His articles have appeared in trade and science journals, and his short stories in Prairie Schooner, New-Story, The Maryland Review, Ohio Short Fiction, and other literary journals and anthologies.

 Joseph Cowley is listed in Who’s Who, International Who’s Who of Writers and Authors,Who’s Who in the World, Strathmore’s Who’s Who,Cambridge Blue Book, National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Centure, and other reference volumes. Among the organizations he is or has been associated with are Mensa, Great Books, and the Authors Guild.