Rita Mae Brown

Nov 28 is the Birth anniversary of

novelist Rita Mae Brown, born in Hanover, Pennsylvania (1944). When she was in her late 20s, she wrote a novel called Rubyfruit Jungle (1973), the coming-of-age story of Molly Bolt and her lesbian experiences in high school and beyond. Brown sent the book to agents to try to interest them, but that didn't work; one of them actually threw the manuscript at Brown, called her a pervert, and told her to get out of her office. So she sent it directly to every publisher she could think of, but no one was interested. Finally, she sent it to a tiny, newly formed feminist publisher, and they agreed to print a few thousand copies and pay Brown $1,000. Most big bookstores wouldn't even carry books by such a small publisher, so Rubyfruit Jungle was sold by mail or from the backs of cars. The publisher didn't put out a single ad, and the novel didn't get a single review. But the book became a word-of-mouth hit and sold 70,000 copies in four years, at which point it was picked up by a major publisher. Rubyfruit Jungle has now sold more than a million copies.

Brown has published over 40 books since then, including Sudden Death (1984), Venus Envy (1994), Alma Mater (2002), and The Sand Castle (2008).

As seen in Writer's Almanac Newsletter 2017...

More details from Wikipedia:

Brown was active in a number of civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of lesbians within feminist groups. Brown received the Pioneer Award for lifetime achievement at the Lambda Literary Awards in 2015.

Biography

Early life

Brown was born in 1944 in Hanover, Pennsylvania to an unmarried teenage mother and her mother's married boyfriend. Brown's birth mother left her at an orphanage. Her mother's cousin, Julia Brown, and her husband, Ralph, retrieved the newborn Brown 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 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.^[6]

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.

Brown wrote for Rat, an alternative bi-weekly that eventually became New York City's first women's liberation newspaper. She also contributed to Come Out!, the gay liberation newspaper in NYC, published by the Gay Liberation Front.

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 actress, author, and screenwriter Fannie Flagg, whom she had met at a Los Angeles party hosted by Marlo Thomas. They later broke up due to, according to Brown, "generational differences", although Flagg and Brown are the same age.

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 U.S. citizenship. Brown still lives on the estate in Charlottesville.

Novels

• Rubyfruit Jungle (1973) ISBN 0-553-27886-X
• In Her Day (1976) ISBN 0-553-27573-9
• A Plain Brown Rapper (June 1976) ISBN 0884470113
• Southern Discomfort (1983) ISBN 0-553-27446-5
• Sudden Death (1984) ISBN 0-553-26930-5
• High Hearts (1987) ISBN 0-553-27888-6
• Venus Envy (1994) ISBN 0-553-56497-8
• Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War (1995) ISBN 0-553-56949-X
• Riding Shotgun (1996) ISBN 0-553-76353-9
• Alma Mater (2002) ISBN 0-345-45532-0

Runnymede books

• Six of One (1978) ISBN 0-553-38037-0
• Bingo (1988) ISBN 0-553-38040-0
• Loose Lips (1999) ISBN 0-553-38067-2
• The Sand Castle (2008) ISBN 0-8021-1870-4
• Cakewalk (2016) ISBN 0-5533-9265-4

Mysteries

Mrs. Murphy Mysteries

The Mrs. Murphy Mysteries include "Sneaky Pie Brown" as a co-author.

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 (2012) ISBN 978-0-345-53044-8
21. Sneaky Pie for President (2012) ISBN 1410450244/ISBN 0345530470 — Not a Mrs. Murphy mystery
22. The Litter of the Law (2013) ISBN 978-0-345-53048-6
23. Nine Lives to Die (2014) ISBN 978-0-345-53050-9
24. Tail Gait (2015) ISBN 978-0-553-39236-4
25. Tall Tail (2016) ISBN 978-0-553-39246-3
26. A Hiss Before Dying (2017)^[39]
27. Probable Claws (2018)^[40]
28. Whiskers in the Dark (2019)^[41]
29. Furmidable Foes (2020)^[42]
30. Claws for Alarm (2021)^[43]
31. Hiss and Tell (2023)^[44]

"Sister" Jane Mysteries

1. Outfoxed (2000) ISBN 0345484258
2. Hotspur (2002) ISBN 0345428234
3. Full Cry (2003) ISBN 0345465202
4. The Hunt Ball (2005) ISBN 0345465504
5. The Hounds and the Fury (2006) ISBN 0345465482
6. The Tell-Tale Horse (2007) ISBN 034550626X
7. Hounded to Death (2008) ISBN 0345512375
8. Fox Tracks (2012) ISBN 0345532996
9. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (2014) ISBN 055339262X
10. Crazy Like a Fox (2017)
11. Homeward Hound (2018)
12. Scarlet Fever (2019)
13. Out of Hounds (2021)
14. Thrill of the Hunt (2022)
15. Lost and Hound (2023)

Mags Rogers Mysteries

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

Nonfiction

• Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual (1988). ISBN 055334630X
• Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser (1997). ISBN 978-0553099737
• Sneaky Pie's Cookbook For Mystery Lovers (1999). ISBN 978-0553106350
• Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small (2009). ISBN 978-0-345-51179-9

Screenplays

• I Love Liberty (1982; TV special)
• The Slumber Party Massacre (1982; feature film)
• The Long Hot Summer (1985; TV movie)
• My Two Loves (1986; TV movie)
• Me and Rubyfruit (1989; short film interpretation of Rubyfruit Jungle)
• Rich Men, Single Women (1990; TV movie)
• The Woman Who Loved Elvis (1993; TV movie)
• Mary Pickford: A Life on Film (1997; documentary)
• Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (1998; TV movie)