Rita Mae Brown - 1944
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By Megan DixonChilhowie High School, Chilhowie, Virginia.
"If you don't like my book, write your own. If you don't think I can write a novel, that ought to tell you something. If you think you can, do. No excuses. If you still don't like my novels, find a book you do like. Life is too short to be miserable. If you like my novels, I commend your good taste." |
On November 28, 1944 in Hanover, Pennsylvania at 3:45 A.M., Juliann Young gave birth illegitimately to a
sickly baby girl named Rita Mae. At the tender age of eighteen, Juliann Young snuck out of the hospital with her baby in order to find the suitable parents she had promised Rita Mae to. While in infancy, Rita Mae
was adopted by Ralph and Julia Brown. Her parents were loving and cared greatly about her education. By the age of three, Rita Mae Brown was already reading. She received her first library card at age five at Martin
Library in York, Pennsylvania. Rita Mae attended Violet Hill Elementary School, but later transferred in the fourth grade to Valley View
Elementary School. In 1955 her family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She went to high school there, and wrote many of the school plays. It was here that her sexual experiments
with both boys and girls began. At the age of sixteen, her girlfriend's father discovered some of the love letters. This led to Rita's dismissal from the student council.
Upon graduation in 1962, Brown enrolled into the University of Florida. However, in 1964 her scholarship was revoked due to her participation in the civil rights movement. Without
a scholarship, she was forced to drop out of school. Rita Mae then hitchhiked to New York City, and lived in an abandoned car with a gay African American and a cat named
Baby Jesus. She enrolled in New York University, and in 1967 she founded the Student Homophile League. In 1968 she graduated with a BA in Classics and English. She also
received a cinematography certificate from the New York School of Visual Arts. In the same year, Brown joined the National Organization of Women (NOW). As time went by,
she became very irritated with the group's unwillingness to address the issue of lesbian rights. As a result of this, in 1970 she quit the organization, and joined a more liberal
feminist group called the Redstockings. In 1971 she helped organize the Furies Collective in Washington, DC, but she left the group in the following year. Rita Mae Brown also
taught at Federal College while in Washington. She even attended the Institute for Policy Studies, and began working on her Ph.D. in Political Science. She received her doctorate in
1976. In 1973 a feminist press called the Daughters Incorporation publicized her first novel, the semi-autobiographical Rubyfruit Jungle, and sold 70, 000 copies. With the amazing
sales of her first novel, Brown became a major spokesperson for the gay and lesbian movement. In 1977 Bantam Books bought the rights to Rubyfruit Jungle, and had 300,000
copies printed. Rita Mae Brown had now proved that lesbian books could sell, and began to write full time. Other novels that followed Rubyfruit Jungle include Six of One (1978), Southern Discomfort
(1982), Sudden Death (1983), High Hearts (1986), and Wish You Were Here (1990). Brown has also published a translation of plays, two books of poetry, a collection of essays (
A Plain Brown Rapper, 1976, and Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual, 1988.) She moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1978 where she shared a house with actress
Fannie Flagg for some time. However, in 1979 Rita Mae Brown fell in love with Martina Navratilova, the Czechoslovakian tennis star. Due to their two very different careers and
Navratilova's affair with Judy Nelson, the relationship ended in 1981 ("The Knitting Circle"). Brown then moved to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter for film and television. In 1982 her ABC series, I
Love Liberty won an Emmy nomination. She was again nominated in 1985 for an Emmy for The Long Hot Summer, which was a NBC mini-series. Rita's film script credits are Sweet Surrender
(1986), Table Dancing (1987), and Slumber Party Massacre. Due to bad experiences with a film, Rita Mae Brown moved
back to Charlottesville, Virginia ("Rita Mae Brown"). In 1992 she began a relationship with a former lover of Martina Navratilova named Judy Nelson. In Brown's spare time, she
plays polo at the Blue Ridge Polo Club. She is the founding mother of the Piedmont Women's Polo Club. She is also the Master of Fox Hounds of the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt
Club, and a member of the Farmington Hunt Club and Middlebrook Hounds. She occasionally plays tennis as well. II. Publications Pawing Through the Past (2000) High Hearts (Bantam Books, 1986, Novel) The Hand That Cradles the Rock (New York University Press, 1971, Poetry) III. Films
Room to Move and Sleepless Night - original screenplays to New World Productions IV. Teleplays
Mary Pickford - for Timeline films, 1997 The Wall - for Edgar J. Scherick Associates and Showtime, 1994
The Woman Who Loved Elvis - for Wapello County Productions, Grossbart/Barnett Productions, and BC, 1992 Werewolf Concerto - for Tales from the Crypt/HBO, 1991 My Two Loves - for Alvin Cooperman Productions and ABC, 1985 V. Criticisms Gunton, Sharon R. and Jean C, Stine, eds. Contemporary Literary Critism. Vol. 18. Detroit: Gale, 1984.
Gottlieb, Annie Passion and Punishment, The New York Times Book Review, March 21, 1982, pp.10, 29. Jakab, Elizabeth, Tennis and Diplomacy, in The New York Times Book Review, June 19, 1983, pp.12, 21.
Meyer, Charlotte M., in a review of "Southern Discomfort," The American Book Review, Vol.5, No.2, January-February 1983, pp.22.
Thiebaux, Marcelle, in a review of "Sudden Death," in Best Sellers, Vol.43, No.4, July 1983, pp.120. VI. Regionalism
Rita Mae Brown resides in Afton, Virginia, a small town located in Nelson County, Virginia. Afton is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and has a population of 2,783 individuals. It
is filled with breathtaking landscapes, including the Oak Ridge Estate and beautiful vineyards. In 1807 Nelson County was formed from Amherst, and was named for Thomas Nelson, Jr.
He was the third governor of Virginia. Nelson County has progressed greatly with the development of Wintergreen Resort, Oak Ridge Estate, Walton's Mountain Museum, and
their apple industry. Also, the beauty of the vineyards has greatly improved the county's tourism industry, which has helped develop this region as well. VII. Summary Rubyfruit Jungle
is a semi-autobiographical novel about a girl named Molly, and her journey and experiences out of poverty. Molly is an illegitimate child, but was adopted by
a very poor family. As a child, Molly is a very creative and outgoing little girl. As the novel progresses, Molly experiments sexually with both girls and boys. Upon her
graduation of high school, Molly enters the University of Florida. However, she is forced to leave due to a homosexual relationship with her roommate. She then moves to New
York, and at first she has a hard time establishing herself. Molly enrolls in New York University in hopes to earn a major in film producing. Even though she announced she
was a lesbian, Molly becomes a very successful and independent woman. The language and content are very graphical in this novel, and it may not be suitable for a younger audience. VIII. Quotations
"I am a comic writer, which means I get to slay the dragons, and shoot the bull." - Speech from 11/18/1978 "I believe in a lively disrespect for most forms of authority." - From Starting From Scratch:
A Different Kind of Writer's Manual, 1988 "A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one." - From Sudden Death, 1983
"If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle." - From Sudden Death, 1983 "I believe all literature started as gossip." - From Starting From Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual, 1988
"Show me a writer, any writer, who hasn't suffered and I'll show you someone who writes in pastels as opposed to primary colors." - From Starting From Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual, 1988
"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're ok, then it is you."
IX. Links
I. Biography
Sneaky Pie's Cookbook (1999)
Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser (Bantam Books, 1997, Autobiography)
Cat on the Scent (1996)
Murder, She Meowed (Bantam Books, 1996, Novel)
Riding Shotgun (Bantam Books, 1996, Novel)
Pay Dirt or Adventures at Ash Lawn (Bantam Books, 1995, Novel)
Murder at Monticello (Bantam Books, 1994, Novel)
Venus Envy (Bantam Books, 1993, Novel)
Rest in Pieces (Bantam Books, 1992, Novel)
Wish You Were Here (Bantam Books, 1990, Novel)
Bingo (Bantam Books, 1988, Novel)
Starting From Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual (Bantam Books, 1988,Non-Fiction)
Sudden Death (Bantam Books, 1983, Novel)
Southern Discomfort (Bantam Books and Harper & Row, 1982, Novel)
Six of One (Harper & Row, 1978; Bantam Books, 1979; Novel)
In Her Day (Daughter's Press, 1976; Bantam Books, 1988; Novel)
The Plain Brown Rapper (Diana Press, 1976, Collection of Political Articles)
Ruby Fruit Jungle (Daughter's Press, 1973; Bantam Books, 1979; Semi-autobiographical Novel)
Songs to a Handsome Woman (Diana Press, 1973, Poetry)
Hrotsvitha: Six Medieval Latin Plays (New York University Press, 1961)
Thursdays 'til Nine - Walt Disney Productions
Southern Discomfort - for Margot Kidder and Godmother Productions
Six of One - Force Ten
Ruby Fruit Jungle - Iris Films
Sweet Surrender - an original screenplay for Twentieth Century Fox
Table Dancing - an original screenplay for Universal Pictures
A Family Again - for Alvin Cooperman/Signboard Hill Productions and Hallmark Hall of Fame, 1994
The Nat Turner Story - for The Samuels Film Company and ABC, 1993
Gluttony/The Seven Deadly Sins - for the Larry A. Thompson Organization and ABC, 1993
The Lucy Story - for Shannon's Deal, Stan Rogow Productions, and NBC, 1991
Southern Exposures - for The Fred Silverman Company and NBC, 1990
Home, Sweet Home - for MGM/UA and CBS, 1990
Selma, Lord, Selma - for Carsey-Werner and NBC, 1989
Rich Men, Single Women - for Aaron Spelling Productions, 1989
The Girls of Summer - Showtime, 1988
Nora's Ark - for FOX
The Mists of Avalon - for Showtime, 1987
The Alice Marble Story - for ABC and Procter & Gamble's Great American Women Series, 1986
The Long Hot Summer - for Hill/Mandelker Productions and NBC, 1985
I Love Liberty - for Embassy Productions and ABC, 1981
- Rita Mae Brown
http://www.mysteryguide.com/bkBrownHere.html
Wish You Were Here Description and criticism of Rubyfruit Jungle
X. Contact Rita Mae Brown by using this address: c/o American Artists, Inc. XI. Bibliography
Brown, Rita Mae. Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. New York: Bantam Books, 1997. "The Knitting Circle: Sports "Rita Mae Brown."1998.
"Rita Mae Brown: Curriculum Vitae." American Artists, Inc. 2 June 1998. "Rita Mae Brown's Scrapbook." Virginia Center for the Book. 20th Century Virginia Authors. Richmond, VA. 1994. Ward, Carol M. Rita Mae Brown. New York, 1993.
"WordsWorth Books: Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser." BITU Productions.n.d.
P.O. Box 4671
Charlottesville, VA 22905
9 March 2001.
1 March 2001.
1 March 2001.
7 March 2001.
4 March 2001
This essay was submitted by Megan Dixon, a student in Jean Hamm's Dual Credit English class at Chilhowie High School, Chilhowie, Virginia.