Rita Mae Brown

Early life

Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania to an unmarried, teenage mother and her mother's married boyfriend. Brown's birth mother left the newborn Brown at an orphanage. Brown's mother's cousin, Julia "Juts" Brown, and her husband Ralph retrieved her from the orphanage, and raised her as their own in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Julia and Ralph Brown were active Republicans in their local party.

Education

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

Early career

Brown hitchhiked to New York City and lived there between 1964 and 1969, sometimes homeless, while attending New York University where she received a degree in Classics and English. In 1968, she received a certificate 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.

Later career

In 1982, Brown wrote a screenplay parodying the slasher genre titled Sleepless Nights; retitled The Slumber Party Massacre, the producers decided to play it seriously, and it was given a limited release theatrically. Brown herself is featured in the feminist history film She's Beautiful When She's Angry.

Philosophical and/or political views

In the spring of 1964, during her study 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.She was involved with the Student Homophile League at Columbia University in 1967 but left it because the men in the league were not interested in women's rights.

She was involved in the Redstockings, but also left the group because of their lack of involvement in lesbian rights. She then went on to join the Gay Liberation Front, where she suggested the formation of an all-lesbian group, since many of the women felt excluded from the feminist movement and the male-led 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. NOW was so worried about the threat of lesbianism that Brown believed that 'lesbian' was "the one word that can cause the Executive Committee a collective heart attack." She played a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the Second Congress to Unite Women on 1 May 1970, which protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of lesbians from the women's movement. Brown and other lesbians from the Gay Liberation Front created The Woman-Identified Woman, which was distributed at the zap. The group that wrote the manifesto then went on to become the Radicalesbians.

While doing work for the American Civil Rights Movement, Brown was introduced to consciousness raising groups, which she incorporated into the organizations she created and the ones she worked in.

In the early 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a separatist lesbian feminist collective in Washington, DC, that held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression. The women wanted to create a communal living situation for radical feminist. The group purchased two houses, where they lived together and used consciousness raising techniques to talk about things like homophobia, feminism, and child rearing. They believed that being a lesbian was a political act, not just a personal one. Brown was exiled from The Furies after a few months and the group dismantled in 1972, a year after its inception.

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." Brown also does not consider herself a "lesbian writer" because she believes art is about connection and not about divisive labels.

Brown wrote for Rat, the first New York City based women's liberation newspaper.

Honors, decorations, awards and distinctions

In 1982, Brown was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for I Love Liberty. She received the Pioneer Award at the 27th Lambda Literary Awards.

Brown received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Arts Council to publish her novel Six of One.

Personal life

Starting in 1973, Brown lived in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. In 1978, she moved to Charlottesville, Virginia where she lived briefly with American author, screenwriter and actor, Fannie Flagg, whom she met at a party hosted by Marlo Thomas. They later broke up due to, according to Brown, "generational differences." In 1979 Brown met and fell in love with tennis champion Martina Navratilova. In 1980 they bought a horse farm in Charlottesville where they lived together until their breakup, over Navratilova's then concern that coming out would hurt her application for US citizenship (according to The Washington Post). Brown still lives on the estate in Charlottesville.

Poetry

Novels

Mrs. Murphy Mysteries

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 (3 April 2012) ISBN 978-0-345-53044-8
21. Sneaky Pie for President (1 August 2012) ISBN 1410450244/ISBN 0345530470
22. The Litter of the Law (22 October 2013) ISBN 978-0-345-53048-6
23. Nine Lives to Die (24 June 2014) ISBN 978-0-345-53050-9
24. Tail Gait (26 May 2015) ISBN 978-0-553-39236-4
25. Tall Tail (17 May 2016) ISBN 978-0-553-39246-3
26. A Hiss Before Dying (30 May 2017)

Other Mysteries

Nonfiction

Screenplays