Brown, Irene Bennett 1932–

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Brown, Irene Bennett 1932–

PERSONAL: Born January 31, 1932, in Topeka, KS.; daughter of Paul Howard and Vesta (Helberg) Bennett; married Robert Ray Brown (a research chemist), November 2, 1951; children: Rourke Alan, Corey Wayne, Melia Elaine, Shana Leigh. Education: Attended high schools in Oregon. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, exploring historical places.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Five Star Publications, Inc., 4696 W. Tyson St., Dept. LM, Chandler, AZ 85226. E-mail—lbbrown@proaxis.com.

CAREER: Worked in Salem, OR, as waitress, 1951, retail clerk, 1951–52, and long distance telephone operator, 1952–53; writer for children.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers (member of board of advisors), Western Writers of America, Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Kansas State Historical Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, editors award for juvenile stories, 1967, 1969, and for best children's book, 1975; Golden Spur Award for best western juvenile book of 1982, Western Writers of America, for Before the Lark.

WRITINGS:

JUVENILE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION

To Rainbow Valley, McKay (New York, NY), 1969.

Run from a Scarecrow, Concordia (St. Louis, MO), 1978.

Skitterbrain, Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1978.

Wilson Whip, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1979.

Morning Glory Afternoon, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1981.

Before the Lark, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1982.

Just Another Gorgeous Guy, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1984.

Answer Me, Answer Me, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1985.

I Loved You, Logan McGee!, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1987.

The Plainswoman, G.K. Hall (Thorndike, ME), 1996.

Haven, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2003.

"WOMEN OF PARAGON SPRINGS" SERIES

Long Road Turning, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2000.

Blue Horizons, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2001.

No Other Place, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2002.

Reap the South Wind, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2002.

Contributor of articles for adult to Westways, Northwest Living, Portland Oregonian, Oregon Journal, and other publications; contributor of children's short stories and serials to Five/Six, Friends, Fun for Middlers, Children's Friend, and other magazines. Woman's editor, Capitol Press (Oregon farm weekly).

SIDELIGHTS: Irene Bennett Brown is the author of award-winning fiction, much of it set in the American West. Her "Women of Paragon Springs" series follows several characters struggling to make lives for themselves in Kansas during the late 1800s. In the first installment of the series, Long Road Turning, Cassidy Malloy is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. Travelling under the name Meg Brennon, she joins forces with an old woman known as Grandma Spicy and two siblings in search of their uncle. The group eventually takes in other members and attempts to establish a home, but their unity is threatened by a wealthy neighbor. Booklist reviewer Patty Engelmann called this a "vibrant and engaging tale." In No Other Place, Aurelia Symington is a pampered Southern belle who proves herself to be an able businesswoman when she and her husband move to the frontier town of Paragon Springs, Kansas. To improve conditions in her new town, Aurelia promotes bringing the railroad to Paragon Springs. According to Engelmann in another Booklist review, the characters' determination to boost their town "comes to life" in this novel.

Brown once told CA: "If I were to choose a theme for myself, it would be a framed quotation by author Robert Fontaine that hangs on my study wall: 'To be a writer is to reach, however awkwardly, for the stars, and move, however haltingly, in that direction.' I write what is in me to write, on subjects with which I have an emotional identity. I like to think that in turn I stir the emotions of my readers. A book for me begins, quite often, with wondering what would it be like if …? In Before the Lark, I wanted to know how it feels to have an affliction one cannot help and be shunned and ill-treated because of it. How does that person manage? Too many youngsters, I believe, are the object of injustice. They may be poor, or in a minority, or fat, plain, or any of the other endless stigmas. In Before the Lark, Jocey Royal is a social outcast because of a facial disfigurement, a harelip. I want kids to know, through reading my books about characters such as Jocey, that they are not alone. That injustice can be dealt with, and overcome, sometimes even gloriously.

"I find writing is work, but work I love. And days when the writing goes well, I'm ready to believe that a fairy godmother toe dances on the carriage of my typewriter."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2000, Patty Engelmann, review of The Long Road Turning, p. 320; May 1, 2002, Patty Englemann, review of No Other Place, p. 1506; February 1, 2003, Patty Engelmann, review of Reap the South Wind, p. 971.

School Library Journal, April, 1987, Phyllis Graves, review of I Loved You, Logan McGee!, p. 92.