Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. (October 4, 1900 – April 11, 1977) was an American World War I aviator, newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died of cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 76.

After World War I broke out in Europe, Bowen left school to drive an ambulance for the American Field Service (AFS) in France.

When he turned seventeen, he signed up in October 1917 with the Great Britain's Royal Flying Corps in recruiting office in New York City as a Flight Cadet.

[3] He saw limited air combat over France but achieved no victories documented by the authorities, despite claims of shooting down two enemy airplanes on the eve of the Armistice.

He wrote to his family, "I reported my flight, but it was hard lines for me because I have no idea where the German planes went down and therefore they can't be credited as official... My bus has 33 bullet holes in it and three in my flying suit, which shows I was in some close action.

[6] After the war, Bowen began working as a journalist for the London Daily Mail, the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune, and two Boston newspapers.

Inspired by the success of the Dave Dawson books, Crown's competing publisher Grosset & Dunlap hired Bowen to write a similar series for them.

[2] After the war, Bowen turned to writing books aimed toward adolescent boys, on topics such as aviation, cars, and baseball.