Author Bio: Jack Owens grew up in the coal fields of southern West Virginia and in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester, Pennsylvania. He graduated American University (BA 1966) and the University of Alabama School of Law (JD 1969). He entered on duty as a Special Agent with the FBI, June 23, 1969, and was assigned to the Denver Field Office after four months of training at the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. He was transferred to the Birmingham Field Office, September, 1970, where he served until his retirement, August 31, 1999. Owens was a member of the first SWAT team in the state of Alabama, and worked investigations involving bank robberies, kidnappings, fugitive apprehensions, foreign counterintelligence, terrorism, and the recruitment of woman and minorities into the Bureau. He was coordinator of the physical fitness program for agents in Birmingham and north Alabama. He worked undercover for four years against hostile intelligence services during the Cold War. Owens retired in 1999 to write. His articles and short stories have appeared in The Atlantic, Alabama Heritage, Now And Then Magazine, Cats and Kittens Magazine, The Spook, and Metropole. His memoir of three decades in the trenches of the FBI, “Don’t Shoot! We’re Republicans!”, was published August 15, 2009. His debut novel, “Watchman JFK’s Last Ride”, was published in Oct 5, 2013 by Keith Publications, which will also publish Owens’ three novels in the “Pock Series”, dark comedies about a serial killer and law enforcement in Alabama.

In Dealey Plaza in Dallas, a shot rings out.  Hearing the shot, FBI Special Agent Jack Owens knows he must get to President Kennedy before it’s too late.  It’s a nightmare that has plagued Owens for years, and though he was not in Dallas at the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, he has certainly lived it out in his dreams.  While in college at American University in Washington D.C., he visited President Kennedy’s grave at Arlington Cemetery on more than one occasion. Now he has penned a novel, Watchman: JFK’s Last Ride published in October of 2013 by Keith Publications in Arizona, which blends what Owens knows as fact with what he created as fiction in regards to the events leading up to the assassination and what followed.  Retired FBI agent, Jack Owens will share from his book, and address the gathering at Pell City Library’s Wild and Wonderful Wednesday on Wednesday, March 19th at noon.

Jack Owens hails from West Virginia, growing up in the coal fields of the southern part of that state and in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester, Pennsylvania.  He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1966 from American University in Washington, DC, then his Juris Doctor degree in 1969 from the University of Alabama School of Law. In June of 1969 he began duty as a Special Agent with the FBI following four months of intensive training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.   He was assigned to the Denver Field Office initially, but transferred to the Birmingham Field Office in September of 1970, where he served until his retirement in August of 1999.  As a member of the first SWAT team in the state, he worked a variety of investigations involving bank robberies, kidnappings, fugitive apprehensions, foreign counterintelligence, and terrorism.  He assisted in the recruitment of women and minorities into the bureau, and coordinated the physical fitness program for all agents in Birmingham and North Alabama.  He worked undercover during the Cold War for four years against hostile intelligence services.

Since his retirement in 1999, Jack Owens has written a myriad of articles and short stories that have appeared in various publications which include but are not limited to: “The Atlantic,” “Alabama Heritage,” “Now and Then Magazine,” “The Spook,” and “Metropole.”  He published a memoir in August of 2009 entitled, Don’t Shoot! We’re Republicans! chronicling his thirty years “in the trenches” of the FBI.  In his latest publication, Watchman: JFK’s Last Ride,

“Many things you will read are true,” admits Owen, “but the characters are mostly fictional.”  

Following the publication of this novel, Owens began work, under contract, on three novels which take place in and around Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  They involve a serial killer named Pock who was inspired by the profiles of numerous serial killers he encountered during his FBI days.  Owens doesn’t hesitate to season his works with humor to lighten the subject matter, as he mimics comical situations and the banter reminiscent of the real-life discourse between agents—even in the midst of struggle and hardship.

Meet Jack Owens at the Pell City Library on Wednesday, March 19 at noon, as he presents his novel at the Wild and Wonderful Wednesday gathering.  The program is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served afterwards.