James Bowen (author)

Bowen was born in Surrey in March 1979. Following his parents' divorce, three years later he moved to Australia with his mother. As they moved frequently, Bowen seldom made friends and was often bullied at school. He later dropped out of education in his second year of high school, becoming a self-confessed "tearaway kid"; he was later questionably diagnosed with ADHD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

In 1997, aged 17 years old, he returned to the United Kingdom to live with his half-sister and her husband in London. Tensions arose and the arrangement did not last. In time, he began sleeping on the streets. For the next few years, Bowen either slept in the streets or stayed in shelters, most of the time terrified of his surroundings. He began begging, and using heroin to deal with the pain from being homeless.

In spring 2007, Bowen was enrolled on a methadone programme, begging and busking in Covent Garden, and living in a supported housing programme in Tottenham, London. One evening he returned home to find a ginger cat in the hallway of his building. Assuming it belonged to another resident, he simply returned to his flat. When the cat was still there the following day, and the day after that, Bowen became concerned and discovered the cat was wearing no collar or ID tag, was too thin, had a very unhealthy coat, scratches on its face and an infected wound on his leg. Bowen checked with other residents to see if the stray belonged to any of them, and when none of them claimed ownership of the animal Bowen decided to help the cat.

According to the account in A Street Cat Named Bob, Bowen took the cat to the nearby RSPCA clinic, which provided antibiotics to treat the infected wound (which he barely could afford). To make sure the cat received the full two-week course of medication, Bowen took him in for a time, while he continued to look for the stray's owner. When he couldn't find any information, he released the cat back on to the street, hoping he'd find his own way home. Instead, the cat began to follow Bowen around, even following him onto the bus when he left to go busking. Concerned that the cat had nowhere else to go, Bowen took him in permanently, naming him Bob after the character Killer BOB from the television drama Twin Peaks.[4]

Since Bob constantly followed James when he was going to work, he got him a harness for safety and allowed him to come along to his regular spots in Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus, travelling in the window seat of the number 73 bus. The public reaction was positive and the pair became famous, their visibility increasing still further when Bowen began selling The Big Issue. The public began uploading videos of Bowen and Bob to YouTube, and tourists would visit Covent Garden to see them. During this time, Bowen decided to conclude his methadone treatment. He credits this development to Bob, saying "I believe it came down to this little man. He came and asked me for help, and he needed me more than I needed to abuse my own body. He is what I wake up for every day now. He’s definitely given me the right direction to live my life."[5]

Bob was kept as an indoor cat in his later life, occasionally being walked in his harness in a local park by James. A purpose-built catio was commissioned by James to allow Bob secure access to their garden.[6] On Saturday 13 June 2020, Bob was fed in the kitchen of their home in Surrey and last seen at 11 pm, before James noticed he was missing half an hour later.[7] On Monday 15 June 2020, two days after going missing, Bob was found dead at the side of a road around half a mile from his home. The cause of death was determined to be haematoma from a head-on collision with a car, the driver of which remains unknown.[8] He was thought to be aged at least 14 to 15 years old.

Earlier in 2020, Bob had finished filming his scenes for A Gift From Bob,[9] the sequel to the 2016 film adaptation.

A number of books have been published about Bowen and Bob.

In addition to his books, James Bowen has released music regarding his story and relationship with Bob. The charity singles And Then Came Bob[16][17] and Time To Move On[18][19] were released by Macaferri Music in 2018. Both tracks were mixed at Broadway Studio[20] and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London.[21][22]

The track And Then Came Bob was composed by the songwriting trio of Roger Ferris, Glo Macari and Dominic Ferris,[23] and Time To Move On was composed by Bowen and fellow busker Henry Facey.[24][25]

Ferris also featured in and produced both tracks, and can be seen producing and mixing the track with Bob playing on the audio desk.[26][21]

Both singles were launched at a ticketed live event in November 2018 at Phoenix Gardens in Covent Garden, where Bowen was accompanied by Dominic Ferris & Henry Facey.[27][28]

Profits from And Then Came Bob were donated to The Big Issue Foundation, supporting homeless people across the UK.[28][22] Bowen and his team made a bid to get And Then Came Bob to a UK Christmas No. 1 in 2018.[29][30]

A film was optioned by London-based Shooting Script Films, and its producer Adam Rolston, in March 2014.[11] In August 2015, Variety announced that Luke Treadaway was to star in the film, and that Roger Spottiswoode was to direct, with shooting in London to begin in October.[31] During production, it was revealed that Bob played himself in the vast majority of the film's scenes.[32] The film was released in the UK in November 2016.[33]

A Street Cat Named Bob was nominated for the UK's National Book Awards in the Popular Non-Fiction category in November 2012.[34] In March 2014, A Street Cat Named Bob was listed at No. 7 on a list of the most inspiring teenage books as part of a poll for World Book Day.[35]

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