Part of the book contains wonderfully inspiring stories of men and women who risked their lives to save others. “When someone does a good deed, it often has a ripple effect,” said Bowker. “I follow this ripple effect in many of these stories. Some of them have cascaded out to others for decades.  It is proof that what we do every day matters.”

 

There are also dark tales of true crime in this book. These provide profound insights into the human heart. “Michael doesn’t back down from the truth,” said Carol Daly, one of California’s first female homicide detectives. “His writing is powerful.” Daly wrote the Introduction to No Ordinary Days.

 

One of the first detectives on the Golden State Killer case, Carl Stincelli, wrote:  “There are life lessons and wisdom in each story Bowker writes.”

 

Inside these pages are also stories of a spy-driven, forbidden love affair, and astonishing and emotional accounts of some of the most successful environmental efforts in history. Bowker also talks in depth about the current state of journalism in this book. Included is a surprisingly candid interview he did one afternoon with broadcast legend, Walter Cronkite.

 

Another section will keep you on the edge of your seat (when you aren’t laughing) as he shares how he escaped from a mountain lion in the Sierra, an erupting volcano in the Cascades, and a wild afternoon of rock-climbing with Batso Harding, the first person to climb Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. 

 

These articles ran in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Reader’s Digest, and Wildlife Conservation Magazine. One of Bowker’s favorite stories, about a mother who stood up to vicious gangland killers to save her sons, ran in Redbook Magazine.  

 

“Bowker’s writing always captivated our global readership,” 

-- William Beaman, former senior editor for Reader’s Digest.

 

“Bowker’s words draw us in and hold us there – fascinating.”

 – Krista Minard, Editor, Sacramento Magazine