Abstract
The Klein-Gordon version of a simple analytic model of the pionic atom due to M. Ericson is derived. The expected precision of the resulting expression for pionic atom 1s level shifts is about 10%. The model is well-suited for the qualitative comparison of theory, especially with regard to various parametric fitting strategies, and experiment in this case. It is found that a repulsive ReB0, comparable with ImB0 in magnitude, is required to fit the experimental (T=0) data in the low A region.