Paul Bowles

American writer, novelist, musician, composer and critic who is often considered the first American existentialist. In the '90s, he was the subject of a Bertolucci film. Bowles was the author of the 1949 novel The Sheltering Sky for which he researched the music and did the film score.

In 1947, Bowles settled in Tangier, at that time in the Tangier International Zone, and his wife Jane Bowles followed in 1948. Except for winters spent in Ceylon during the early 1950s, Tangier was Bowles's home for the remainder of his life. He came to symbolize American immigrants in the city.

A 1998 Canadian documentary on his life Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles won Best Documentary at the 27th Annual International Emmy Awards in New York City. Paul Bowles died on 18 November 1999 at age 88 in Tangier, Morocco of a heart attack.