Paul Cowan was an inspiring author of several books, including The Tribes of America, The Making of an Un-American, and, with his wife, Rachel Cowan, Mixed Blessings. He died in 1988 of complications from leukemia. Rachel Cowan wrote the Afterword for the paperback edition of An Orphan in History (originally published by Doubleday).

Rabbi Rachel Cowan directs the Jewish Life Program of the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New
York City. Ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, she teaches and lectures extensively. Her own attachment to psalms as a resource for healing grows from her experience with her late husband Paul Cowan's struggle to find hope in the face of a fatal illness.