Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is a prolific American writer and social activist, notable for novels, poetry, and screenwriting. She has also been nominated for an Emmy.

Early life

Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, but she grew up in Florida, and as of 2004 lives outside Charlottesville, Virginia.

In the 1960s, Brown attended the University of Florida, but was expelled for her participation in a civil rights rally. She later moved to New York and attended New York University, where she received a degree in Classics and English. Later she received another degree in Cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts. She also holds a doctorate in Political Science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.

In the late 1960s, Brown turned her attention to politics. She became active in the American Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war movement, the Gay Liberation movement, and the feminist movement. She helped found the Student Homophile League and participated in the Stonewall riots in New York City. She took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but resigned angrily in February 1970 over Betty Friedan's anti-lesbian remarks, and NOW's attempts to distance itself from lesbian organizations. 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 and lesbian issues from the women's movement.

Early in the 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies, a lesbian feminist newspaper collective, which held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression.

Writing career

Brown is the bestselling author of a number of books including Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her Day, Six of One, Southern Discomfort, Sudden Death, High Hearts, Bingo, Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers' Manual, Venus Envy, Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War, Riding Shotgun, Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser, Loose Lips, and Outfoxed.

She is also, along with her cat 'Sneaky Pie Brown', author of a mystery series featuring animals, including Wish You Were Here (1990), Rest In Pieces (1992), Murder At Monticello (1994), Pay Dirt (1995), Murder, She Meowed (1996), Murder On the Prowl (1998), Cat On the Scent (1999), Sneaky Pie's Cookbook (1999), Pawing Through the Past (2000), Claws And Effect (2001), Catch As Cat Can (2002), The Tail Of the Tip-Off (2003), Whisker Of Evil (2004), Cat's Eyewitness (2005), and her newest book; Sour Puss (2006).

She also wrote the film Slumber Party Massacre, intending it as a parody of the slasher genre. The producers instead decided to play it as serious.

Most notable relationships

She is the former girlfriend of tennis great Martina Navratilova, actress and writer Fannie Flagg, socialite Judy Nelson (also a former girlfriend to Navratilova), and politician Elaine Noble, among others. ^*

Quotes

• "The only queer people are those who don't love anybody."

• "I became a lesbian because of women, because women are beautiful, strong, and compassionate."

External links

• Official Website
• A biography.
• NEW! Video Interview Sour Puss Rita Mae Brown March 2006
• Interview with Rita Mae Brown.

1944 births | American novelists | American poets | American screenwriters | Feminist writers | Lesbian writers | LGBT rights activists | Living people

Rita Mae Brown | Rita Mae Brown | Rita Mae Brown | Браун, Рита Мэй