Porter Emerson Browne was an American playwright (June 22, 1879 – September 20, 1934), born

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

History

He was the author of numerous plays, including ''

A Fool There Was A Fool There Was may refer to: * ''A Fool There Was'' (1914 film) or ''She Wanted a Car'', a comedy directed by Frank Griffin and featuring Oliver Hardy * ''A Fool There Was'' (1915 film), a melodrama directed by Frank Powell and starring Theda B ...

'' (1909), which was adapted for film twice, in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

and 1922; '' The Spendthrift'' (1910); ''Chains'' (1912); and '' The Bad Man'' (1920), adapted for film three times, in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

. The

Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...

dramatic vehicle ''

Joan of Plattsburg ''Joan of Plattsburg'' is a 1918 American propaganda comedy-drama film co-directed by William Humphrey and George Loane Tucker, written by Tucker from a story by Porter Emerson Browne, photographed by Oliver T. Marsh, released by the Goldwyn Pic ...

'' (1918) was also based on a Browne play.

John Toland John Toland (30 November 167011 March 1722) was an Irish people, Irish rationalist philosopher and freethought, freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, whi ...

, the historian, wrote in his autobiography a loving portrait of Browne. Barely a teenager, Toland aspired to be a writer, and was enthralled when Browne came to live with his family. Browne filled the boy’s imagination with stories about serving as Pancho Villa’s secretary, writing speeches for Theodore Roosevelt, and pursuing research in China and Japan. He also taught him how to deal cards from the bottom of the deck, “just in case you get into a game with crooks.” Most importantly, Browne taught him how to be a writer. He took the young Toland to his study and showed him a miniature stage placed next to his typewriter. Small figurines stood on the stage. “I just watch them and let them do everything they have to do,” he told Toland. “Then I type down everything they say.” When Toland wrote his autobiography in his eighties, after having written many books, he still remembered Browne’s example. He credited Browne for teaching him how to listen, even as he interviewed heinous figures important in history, without judgement. Like Browne, Toland provided structure and context, and then wrote down everything they had to say.

References

*Toland, John (1997). ''Captured by History: One Man's Vision of Our Tumultuous Century''. St. Martin's Press.

External links

Obituary (''The New York Times'')
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American male dramatists and playwrights 1879 births 1934 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers People from Beverly, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts {{US-playwright-stub