Leslie Calvin Brown (born February 17, 1945) is an American politician and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981.

Early life

Brown was born with his twin brother, Wesley, in Liberty City, a low-income section of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Florida. He was adopted by Mamie Brown, a 38-year-old single woman who worked as a cafeteria attendant and domestic assistant. Brown claims that he was declared "educable

mentally retarded Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...

" in

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, which damaged his self-esteem and confidence.

Professional life

According to many of Brown's speeches, when he first decided to get his life into order, he went to a radio station he was repeatedly unsuccessful with his speeches. It was only after the on-air failures of the previous afternoon DJ that he was hired full-time. Upon his termination from the radio station, he ran for election in the Ohio House of Representatives and won. After leaving the Ohio State Legislature, he shifted his career to television and became a host on PBS. From September to November 1993, he hosted a talk show, ''The Les Brown Show''. Brown was on KFWB in California for a daily syndicated radio program from 2011 to 2012.

Personal life

Brown married Gladys Knight in 1995. They divorced in 1997.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Les 1945 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American state legislators in Ohio American motivational speakers American self-help writers American twins Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Living people People associated with direct selling