Joe David Brown (May 12, 1915 – April 22, 1976) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He drew memorably from his own life to compose his fiction: his grandfather's role as a minister, his own knowledge of confidence games from his work as a reporter, his

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

experiences, and his residence on journalistic assignment in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He is particularly remembered for the title character of his novel ''

Addie Pray ''Addie Pray'' is a 1971 novel by Joe David Brown. It was adapted for the 1973 film '' Paper Moon'', directed by Peter Bogdanovich. After the film's release, the novel was retitled ''Paper Moon''. The 1974 ABC situation comedy '' Paper Moon'', ...

'', the young "Mistress of the Con Game" during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

; an adaptation of the story later became the film '' Paper Moon''.

Biography

Brown was born in Birmingham, the son of William Samuel Brown, a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

publisher, and Lucille Lokey Brown. At age 20, he became a police reporter for the ''

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

'' and in the same year (1935) married Mildred Harbour, with whom he had two sons, David (named Joe David Brown after his father, and also a journalist) and Ted. At age 21, Brown became city editor of the ''

Dothan Eagle The ''Dothan Eagle'' is a daily newspaper serving Dothan, Alabama, and surrounding communities. History It was founded in 1908. It was owned by the Thomson Corporation until 2000, when it was sold to Media General. In 2012, Media General sold mo ...

.'' From 1935 to 1939, he worked for newspapers in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

;

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

; and

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. In 1939, he began working for the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', but his time there was interrupted in 1942 by World War II, in which he served in the United States Army with the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (460th PFAB). Brown was one of the first men to parachute into

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

, in August 1944, receiving a

battlefield commission A battlefield promotion (or field promotion) is an advancement in military rank that occurs while deployed in combat. A standard field promotion is advancement from current rank to the next higher rank; a "jump-step" promotion allows the recipient ...

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and being awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

with Palm. His first marriage ended in 1943 while he was still in the service. In 1945, while recovering from combat injuries, he met and married his second wife, Frances O'Reilly, with whom he had one daughter, Gilbreth. Brown returned to the ''Daily News,'' then from 1949 to 1957 was a foreign correspondent for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', serving in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

;

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

;

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1957, he became a freelance writer. In the sixties he returned to work for ''Time'' as a contributing editor; he also edited several books for Time-Life.

Filmed novels

Three of Brown's better-known novels became the basis of movies. ''Stars in My Crown'' (1947) was based on his childhood experiences with his minister grandfather and was made into a movie by the same name in 1949. ''Kings Go Forth'' was made into

a movie ''A Movie'' (styled as ''A MOVIE'') is a 1958 experimental collage film by American artist Bruce Conner. It combines pieces of found footage taken from various sources such as newsreels, soft-core pornography, and B movies, all set to a score ...

in 1958. His final novel, ''Addie Pray'' (1971), the story of 11-year-old con artist Addie and her older partner Long Boy, was made into the movie ''Paper Moon'' (1973), starring

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...

and his daughter Tatum; the film then served as the basis for a TV series of the same name, starring

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

. Brown's other, earlier novels are less known. ''The Freeholder'' (1949) is about an indentured servant's quest for freedom in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. ''Kings Go Forth'' (1956) draws upon Brown's military experiences (and also was made into a movie released in 1958), and ''Glimpse of a Stranger'' (1968) highlights the contrast between the cultures of

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Brown died on April 26, 1976, at his home in Georgia.

Works

Novels *''Stars In My Crown'' (1947) *'' The Freeholder'' (1949) *''

Kings Go Forth ''Kings Go Forth'' is a 1958 black-and-white World War II film starring Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood. The screenplay was written by Merle Miller from the 1956 novel of the same name by Joe David Brown, and the film was directed ...

'' (1956) *'' Glimpse of a Stranger'' (1968) *''

'' (aka ''Paper Moon'') (1971) Short stories *"Grandpa and the Miracle Grindstone" (1956;

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home Jour ...

)

External links

*
Joe David Brown Papers
a
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Joe David 1915 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American novelists Writers from Birmingham, Alabama United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) American male journalists American male novelists Journalists from Alabama 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Alabama 20th-century American non-fiction writers United States Army officers 20th-century American journalists American expatriates in India