"... if a man has spent his life doing what he wanted to, he ought to be able to say goodbye without regrets."

Considered one of the most influential post-war American literary and musical figures, Paul Bowles died on November 18 in Tangier, Morocco, his home since 1947. He was 88.

Bowles was born in the Queens section of New York City, the son of a dentist. His early life was, by his own accounts, very structured. But when he was 18 he quit college in his first semester and left the United States for Paris.

While in France, Bowles kept company with some of literary luminaries of the times, including Gertrude Stein, Andre Gide and Jean Cocteau.

By the time he was in his 20s, Bowles had returned to the United States and was studying music and composition with Aaron Copland. After another round of international travel, Bowles was back, this time writing musical scores during the 1930s for Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, William Saroyan and others.

It was during this time that Bowles met author Jane Auer. Despite different sexual orientations (she was lesbian, he was bisexual), the two were married and remained together until Auer's death in 1973.

In 1947, the couple moved to Tangier, where Bowles lived during the 1930s. Two years later he published "The Sheltering Sky," the story of a turbulent couple's travels in northern Africa.

The book was a huge critical hit and led many to believe the book's principal characters were literary stand-ins for Paul and Jane, although Bowles denied such considerations. Bernardo Bertolucci made the book into a movie in 1990 starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich.

Bowles later wrote several more books and musical compositions and published a set of collected poems.