To write any sort of meaningful biography of someone like James Bowman is not an easy task, because James was unique in many ways. Despite having been born with the distressing illness of Cystic Fibrosis he continued to live his life to the full, using his journalistic talents to real advantage. James was not the sort of person to complain - indeed, he preferred, as far as possible, to ignore his condition and to get on with life, even though he knew what the end result was going to be. Very few people knew of the actual state of his health, and that was the way he preferred it, because it meant that he could concentrate on doing his job, which he did to perfection. He had the undoubted gift of being able to get to the heart of the matter, without any unnecessary words.