He was a copy editor, feature writer and beat reporter for The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, PA, for 10 years before leaving to become editor of the Perry County Times in New Bloomfield. He has won Keystone Press Awards for investigative reporting, feature series writing, and headline writing and is a former president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors. Fowler is a native of North Carolina, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and a graduate of Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C. He and his wife, Sharon, live in New Cumberland, PA. They have three children and two grandchildren.