Later in the 1960s, she participated in the anti-war movement, the feminist movement and the Gay Liberation movement.īrown took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but resigned in January 1970 over Betty Friedan's anti-gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself from lesbian organizations. In 1982, a screenplay Brown wrote while living in Los Angeles, Sleepless Nights, was retitled The Slumber Party Massacre and given a limited release theatrically.ĭuring Brown's spring 1964 semester at the University of Florida at Gainesville, she became active in the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1977, she bought a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia where she still lives. Starting in 1973, Brown lived in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. in literature from Union Institute & University in 1976 and holds a doctorate in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Later, she received another degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts. She subsequently enrolled at Broward Community College with the hope of transferring eventually to a more tolerant four-year institution.īetween fall 19, she lived in New York City, sometimes homeless, while attending New York University where she received a degree in Classics and English. In the spring of 1964, the administrators of the racially segregated university expelled her for participating in the civil rights movement. Starting in the fall of 1962, Brown attended the University of Florida at Gainesville on a scholarship.

She was raised by her biological mother's female cousin and the cousin's husband in York, Pennsylvania and later in Ft. She is also an Emmy-nominated screenwriter.īrown was born illegitimate in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Rita Mae Brown is a prolific American writer, most known for her mysteries and other novels ( Rubyfruit Jungle).

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown