James Alexander Cowan (October 27, 1901 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian writer and a public relations consultant.

[5][6] Hemingway gave Cowan a copy of his first published book entitled Three Stories and Ten Poems.

"[7]Cowan's copy of the book is sufficiently valuable to be currently priced at a hundred twenty-five thousand US dollars.

With its success, many writers contributed to the magazine including Stephen Leacock, Gregory Clark, Nunnaly Johnson, Bruce Hutchison, and Leslie McFarlane, the original author of The Hardy Boys.

[16] Prior to the outbreak of war between Japan and the U.S. in 1941, Cowan was approached by the Japanese government to produce a pro-Japanese newspaper in North America.

[17] He also served as an advisor to politicians and political parties in Canada, and to United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1935 to 1939.

[3] Cowan served as the Director for Press Relations for Rank Films of Great Britain where he also assisted British actors Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier, John Mills, Deborah Kerr, Trevor Howard, Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Basil Rathbone, Michael Redgrave and Leslie Howard.

[4][20] In a featured section of the Marketing Magazine written by Dean Walker, Cowan was named as the phantom Canadian of Press Relations.

The article noted that, "When Cowan picks up that telephone, it seems he can reach almost any level of business, government, or the communications industry.

Rank's London office arranged for Alec Guinness to be released from a picture commitment to enable him to come to Stratford for the first season.

Cowan also believed that it was critical to have a very strong pre-season ticket sales rather than trying to build the project gradually.

His strategy included launching the plays like a movie premier, something he knew well as the North American public relations director for Rank Films and the Odeon Theaters.

[22] James Cowan and his friend John Frame provided the first year's pre-season opening campaign as a donation.

Cowan was recognized for his community service and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.

[21] The prolific mystery novelist, Frances Shelley Wees,[28] based one of her recurring sleuths on her friend, James A. Cowan.

He does have a real-life model — not a detective, psychologist or anyone connected with police work, but a Toronto public relations man (who is in on the secret).