Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown
Born November 28, 1944
Hanover, Pennsylvania, USA
Occupation novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Nationality American
Website
www.ritamaebrownbooks.com

Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is an American writer and feminist. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time. Brown is also a mystery writer and screenwriter.

Early life

Brown was born illegitimate [1] in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She was raised by her biological mother's female cousin and the cousin's husband in York, Pennsylvania and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Starting in the fall of 1962, Brown attended the University of Florida at Gainesville on a scholarship.[2] In the spring of 1964, the administrators of the racially segregated university expelled her for participating in the civil rights movement.[2] She subsequently enrolled at Broward Community College[3] with the hope of transferring eventually to a more tolerant four-year institution.[4]

Between fall 1964 and 1969, she lived in New York City, sometimes homeless,[5] while attending New York University[6] where she received a degree in Classics and English. Later, she received another degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts. Brown received a Ph.D. in literature from Union Institute & University in 1976 and holds a doctorate in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.[7]

Starting in 1973, Brown lived in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.[8] In 1977, she bought a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia where she still lives.[9] In 1982, a screenplay Brown wrote while living in Los Angeles, Sleepless Nights, was retitled The Slumber Party Massacre and given a limited release theatrically.[10]

Political activism

During Brown's spring 1964 semester at the University of Florida at Gainesville, she became active in the American Civil Rights Movement. Later in the 1960s, she participated in the anti-war movement, the feminist movement and the Gay Liberation movement.

Brown took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but resigned in January 1970 over Betty Friedan's anti-gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself from lesbian organizations.[11] She claims she played a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the Second Congress to Unite Women on May 1, 1970, which protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of lesbians from the women's movement.[12]

In the early 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a lesbian feminist newspaper collective in Washington, DC, which held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression.[12]

Brown told Time magazine in 2008, "I don't believe in straight or gay. I really don't. I think we're all degrees of bisexual. There may be a few people on the extreme if it's a bell curve who really truly are gay or really truly are straight. Because nobody had ever said these things and used their real name, I suddenly became [in the late 1970s] the only lesbian in America." [13]

Personal life

Brown has been in relationships with tennis player Martina Navratilova, actress and writer Fannie Flagg, socialite Judy Nelson, and politician Elaine Noble.[14][15] Brown enjoys American fox hunting and is master of her Fox Hunt Club. She has also played polo, and started the women-only Blue Ridge Polo Club.[16]

Writing career

Poetry

Brown began her writing career with poetry:

Novels

She has authored a number of novels, including:

Since 1990 Brown has "coauthored" with her talking cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, a cozy mystery series featuring the feline character Mrs. Murphy.[17] These include:

  1. Wish You Were Here (1990) ISBN 978-0-553-28753-0
  2. Rest in Pieces (1992) ISBN 978-0-553-56239-2
  3. Murder at Monticello (1994) ISBN 978-0-553-57235-3
  4. Pay Dirt (1995) ISBN 978-0-553-57236-0
  5. Murder, She Meowed (1996) ISBN 978-0-553-57237-7
  6. Murder on the Prowl (1998) ISBN 978-0-553-57540-8
  7. Cat on the Scent (1999) ISBN 978-0-553-57541-5
  8. Pawing Through the Past (2000) ISBN 978-0-553-58025-9
  9. Claws and Effect (2001) ISBN 978-0-553-58090-7
  10. Catch as Cat Can (2002) ISBN 978-0-553-58028-0
  11. The Tail of the Tip-Off (2003) ISBN 978-0-553-58285-7
  12. Whisker of Evil (2004) ISBN 978-0-553-58286-4
  13. Cat's Eyewitness (2005) ISBN 978-0-553-58287-1
  14. Sour Puss (2006) ISBN 978-0-553-58681-7
  15. Puss n' Cahoots (2007) ISBN 978-0-553-58682-4
  16. The Purrfect Murder (2008) ISBN 978-0-553-58683-1
  17. Santa Clawed (2008) ISBN 978-0-553-80706-6
  18. Cat of the Century (2010) ISBN 978-0-553-80707-3
  19. Hiss of Death (2011) ISBN 978-0-553-80708-0
  20. The Big Cat Nap (4/3/2012) ISBN 978-0-345-53044-8
  21. The Litter of the Law (10/22/2013) ISBN 978-0-345-53048-6

Brown has written about her passions for horses, hounds, and American fox hunting in her fiction and non-fiction works and is active in a local fox hunt club.[16] In 2000, she began a mystery series centered around a fox hunting club in Virginia. Books include:

In 2010, Brown's new series, featuring Mags Rogers and her wirehaired dachshund Baxter, debuted. This series includes:

  1. A Nose for Justice (2010) ISBN 978-0-345-51182-9[18]
  2. Murder Unleashed (2010) ISBN 978-0-345-51183-6

Nonfiction

Screenplays

Her screenplay Slumber Party Massacre (1982) was a parody of the slasher genre, but the producers of the film decided to play it seriously. Other screenplays and teleplays include:

In 1982, Brown was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for I Love Liberty.

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780553099737.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 183–184. ISBN 9780553099737.
  3. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 144–149. ISBN 9780553099737.
  4. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 186–189. ISBN 9780553099737.
  5. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 200–201. ISBN 9780553099737.
  6. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 209–210. ISBN 9780553099737.
  7. ↑ Related by Brown in her autobiography Rita Will and Starting from Scratch.
  8. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 288–289. ISBN 9780553099737.
  9. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 322–329. ISBN 9780553099737.
  10. ↑ Brown, Rita Mae (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. Bantam Books. pp. 298–299. ISBN 9780553099737.
  11. ↑ Brownmiller, Susan (1999). In our time : memoir of a revolution. Dial Press. ISBN 0-385-31486-8.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Related by Brown in her autobiography Rita Will.
  13. ↑ "Rita Mae Brown: Loves Cats, Hates Marriage", Andrea Sachs, Time Magazine, March 18 2008
  14. ↑ Azzopardi, Chris (December 17, 2009). "Welcome to the Jungle". Gay & Lesbian Times. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  15. ↑ Bayard, Louis (June 29, 2009). "Crying foul on Martina Navratilova". Salon.com. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Rita Mae Brown Website Bio, retrieved May 24, 2007
  17. ↑ "About Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown". MysteryNet.
  18. ↑ "Rita Mae Brown boks". isbndb.

External links

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