Lester Louis Brown (20 December 1928 - 4 November 2013) was an American "pioneer in television journalism". He was also a publisher and book author, with topics reporting on the business of television. He founded a magazine called ''Channels of Communications'' in 1981.

Family and childhood

Early life

Brown was born in Indiana Harbor, East Chicago, Indiana, on 20 December 1928. He was a first generation American of Polish-German Jewish descent. His parents, Irving H. Brown and Helen Feigenbaum, migrated to the United States shortly before the First World War. His father ran a store and Brown grew up with his sisters, Marion and Anita. He was the first of his family to attend college, graduating from Roosevelt University.

Family

He met Jean Rosalie Slaymaker when she was working at the '' Chicago Sun Times''. They had their first child, Jessica, in 1960. He moved the family in 1965 to settle in Larchmont, New York, where they had two more children, Joshua and Rebecca.

Journalism

His journalism career began in the Army, writing a newsletter for his post. Returning to Chicago, he joined the show-business newspaper '' Variety''. In 1965, he transferred to New York to become ''Variety''s TV/radio editor. Passed over when the ''Variety'' editor Abel Green died in 1973, Brown joined the ''New York Times'' as radio/television editor. During his career, he covered television events such as Watergate.

Books

His book in 1971, ''Televi$ion: The Business Behind the Box'', "was pioneering in its depiction about how the TV industry actually did and didn't work." ''Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television'' was first published as ''The New York Times Encyclopedia of Television'' ''Keeping Your Eye on Television''. 1979. Pilgrim Press ''Fast Forward: The New Television and American Society'', with Savannah Waring Walker. 1983. Andrews McMeel Publications, ''Electric Media'', by Les Brown and Sema Marks, was one of six books in the "Making Contact" series published by Harcourt Brace. It covers two technologies then overtaking the US: television (Brown) and computers (Marks).

Publishing

During a strike at ''The New York Times'' in 1981, Brown founded ''Channels of Communication'' as a non-profit venture funded by the Markle Foundation. ''Channels'' was later acquired by

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. Brown left in 1987 and ''Channels'' folded in 1990. Brown launched a trade magazine, ''Television Business International'', in 1988. It was also owned by Norman Lear's Act III Publishing. He was editor until 1992, then a columnist.

Music

Brown opened the Gate of Horn, a 100-seat folk music club in Chicago in 1956 with his college classmate Albert Grossman. Grossman later managed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and The Band. The Gate of Horn hosted Roger McGuinn, Odetta,

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and Bill Cosby, among other future stars. During those days, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song " Abilene". Set to music by John D. Loudermilk, it was first recorded by Bob Gibson. A cover version by George Hamilton IV reached number one on the country music chart for four weeks. "Abilene" is a country standard, and the name of one of Brown's granddaughters.

Social issues

Ten years before the birth of social media, Brown warned about the dangers to democracy as sources of news and commentary proliferated. Brown frequently wrote on subjects of regulation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Les 1928 births 2013 deaths Journalists from Illinois