Dennis Brown
Author / Theater Critic / Publicist / Screenwriter / Playwright / Newspaper Writer / Teacher / Sometimes Actor
My story as a writer began in January 1970, when I sold my first piece – a profile of Jay Fox, a friend from Illinois Wesleyan University who was touring as the eerie M.C. in Cabaret – to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I held that $75.00 paycheck in my hand and thought, “This is a fun way to earn money.” I’ve been writing ever since. For the next 22 years, I reviewed 600 books for the Post-Dispatch. I wrote for the New York Times, LA Times and the Post-Dispatch and later joined the CBS Network as a publicist where I met and befriended many actors. Over another 12 years, I wrote more than a half million words about theater for The Riverfront Times.
My adaptation of William Inge’s novel, My Son is a Splendid Driver, was staged at the William Inge Festival in Kansas. My adaptation of Jared Brown’s biography, The Fabulous Lunts, was staged in New York City. I also adapted a short story, The Perfect Tribute, for television (the TV movie starred Jason Robards as Abraham Lincoln). In 2017, I wrote The Muny Saga, a history of the St. Louis Municipal Opera in Forest Park, which can be found here. Most recently, I wrote a one-man play for my college roommate at IWU. My Life with Will: An Evening with Will Shakespeare and James Sutorius was triumphantly staged at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, Ca. In between time I have managed to write four books with another on the way. So, in a nutshell, this has been my writing story – up till now.
