Giles Merrill Fowler

1934 - 2018

Giles Merrill Fowler Giles Merrill Fowler father, husband, journalist, author, teacher and cheerful troublemaker died riding a deep and emphatically requested morphine wave Nov. 3 at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames. He spent most of 84 years indulging his appetites for life's finer pleasures, particularly stimulating company and a bottle or four of the good stuff, with infectious verve and vigor. He fought the indignities of aging with a witty, vinegary constitution. The cause of his demise was a tooth infection that led to respiratory and cardiac complications. Giles was born in Kansas City in 1934 to Richard B. and Elinor Montgomery Fowler. His father spent most of his working life as a reporter and editor at the Kansas City Star, eventually becoming editor-in-chief and president, and Giles was doomed to follow his father into that disreputable but joyous trade. Giles studied at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and the Columbia University School of Journalism. After interning and working as a reporter at the Star, he then worked for one year at The Times of London as a visiting reporter, clinching forever his love of all things British. From 1963-78 he served as the Star's film and theater critic, during which time the paper significantly beefed up its arts coverage. He then was editor at the paper's Sunday magazine. In 1981, Giles indulged a long-held interest in teaching and was given a one-year position as the Seaton Visiting Professional in Journalism at Kansas State University. Hopelessly hooked on guiding and corrupting impressionable young minds, Giles then was hired at the Greenlee School of Journalism at Iowa State University. A peerless raconteur, he was capable of keeping even a nuts-and-bolts reporting class spellbound with a wide-eyed energy that telegraphed to students that journalism was an ideal way to explore life. He could be a demanding but ever-encouraging teacher, and his students wanted less to earn a good grade than his hard-won approbation. He retired in 2002 and pursued his interests in writing short fiction and a book-length nonfiction account of a sensational 1909 murder case in Kansas City, "Deaths on Pleasant Street," which won ForeWord Reviews' book of the year. Twice married and divorced, Giles called his children "the joys and redemption of my life." They are Stephen Fowler (m. Mirjana Risek), Toronto; Andrew Fowler, Bangkok; Kate Fowler, Yangon, Myanmar; Will Fowler, Washington D.C.,; and two grandchildren, Milo Fowler and Tilda Fowler, Toronto. He is survived by first wife, Jane Pecinovsky Fowler, Overland Park, Kansas; second wife, Veronica Lorson Fowler, Ames; sisters-in-law, Libby and Kitty Fowler, both of Kansas City; as well as a niece, nephews, and other family. He is preceded in death by his brothers, Richard (Dick) and Lee. The family asks for no flowers. Instead, please make memorial donations to St. John's Episcopal Church in Ames or to Giles' beloved Westminster College. A funeral will be held Saturday, January 5 at 2:00 p.m. in Ames. There will also be a drinks and appetizer gathering the night before. There may be a small gathering in Kansas City as well, but that is still being considered. Please visit https://tinyurl.com/gilesfowler for more information.