Brock Brower

Brock Brower (November 27, 1931 – April 16, 2014) was an American novelist, magazine journalist and TV writer of various magazines including Esquire, Life, Harper’s Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.[1][2][3]

Brock Brower
Born
Brock Hendrickson Brower

(1931-11-27)November 27, 1931
Plainfield, New Jersey
DiedApril 16, 2014(2014-04-16) (aged 82)
Santa Barbara, California
NationalityAmerican
Occupationjournalist, author
Years active1959–2006
Known forEsquire magazine profiles
Notable work
The Late Great Creature (1972)
Spouse(s)Ann Montgomery (married 1956-2014)
Children5

Background

The son of Charles H. Brower, Brock Hendrickson Brower was born in Plainfield, New Jersey and raised in Westfield, New Jersey. In 1953, he graduated from Dartmouth College, where he served as managing editor for The Dartmouth.[4] He then attended Harvard Law School but left to study English literature for his MA as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University's Merton College.[1][2][5]

Career

From 1956 to 1958, Brower served two years in the U.S. Army in Intelligence at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.[2]

In 1959, he joined Esquire, for which he wrote profiles of Alger Hiss, Norman Mailer, and Mary McCarthy.[1]

He also wrote profiles of vice presidents Spiro T. Agnew and Walter F. Mondale. He profiled presidential candidates including Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, George W. Romney, and Eugene McCarthy. He was writing about Ted Kennedy just before the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969.[1][2]

In the late 1970s, he "helped originate" the ABC News program 20/20 for Hugh Downs and for 3-2-1 Contact (a science show produced by the Children’s Television Workshop).[1][2]

From 1989 to 1991, he was a speechwriter for Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.[1][2]

From 1996 to 2006, he taught journalism at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, and was a writer-in-residence at Princeton University.[1][2][6]

Personal life and death

In 1956, he married Ann Montgomery, an American fashion model, in Paris.[1][2]

Brower died of cancer in Santa Barbara, California, on April 16, 2014, at age 82.[1][2]

Survivors include his wife, five children (Monty, Emily, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alison), brother Charles, five grandchildren. He was predeceased by Anne C. Brower, bone radiologist and Episcopal priest.[1][2]

Awards

Awards made to Brower include:[2]

His 1972 comedic novel The Late Great Creature was nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction.[1][2]

Works

Books:

  • Debris (1967)
  • The Inchworm War and the Butterfly Peace (1970)
  • The Late Great Creature (1972, 2011)[7]
  • Putting America’s House in Order (1996) with co-author David M. Abshire
  • Blue Dog, Green River (2005)

Articles for Esquire:

  • "The Art of Fiction CXI" (December 1959)[8]
  • "A Lament for Old-Time Radio" (April 1960)[9]
  • "The Great Bubble Gum War" (September 1960)[10]
  • "The Problems of Alger Hiss" (December 1960)[11]
  • "Who's in Among the Analysts" (July 1961)[12]
  • "Fraternities" (October 1961)[13]
  • "The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Revisited" (March 1962)[14]
  • "Mary McCarthyism" (July 1962)[15]
  • "The Brothers Cassini" (February 1963)[16]
  • "The Vulgarization of American Demonology" (June 1964)[17]
  • "Rockabye" (April 1968)[18]
  • "Dylan’s Boathouse" (January 1971)[19]
  • "Play It Again, Sam, Bogie, Harry, Wendell, Claude" (November 1971)[20]
  • "The Conscience of Leon Jaworski" (February 1975)[21]

References
  1. Bernstein, Albert (29 April 2014). "Brock Brower, magazine journalist, novelist and TV writer, dies at 82". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. "Obituaries 4/30/14". Town Topics. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. "Obituaries". Rhodes Trust. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  4. "Alums of The Dartmouth make their mark in journalism". The Dartmouth. 16 April 1999. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  5. Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 453.
  6. "Brower, Brock, 1931–". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  7. Olmsted, Larry (22 September 2011). "40 Years Later, Acclaimed Novel Back From Dead". Forbes. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. Brower, Brock (December 1959). "The Art of Fiction CXI: A posthumous interview with Wm. Shakespeare". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. Brower, Brock (April 1960). "A Lament for Old-Time Radio: Those dear dead old radio days beyond recall". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. Brower, Brock (September 1960). "The Great Bubble Gum War: Mighty industries clash in the struggle to fill the mandibles of card-carrying children". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  11. Brower, Brock (December 1960). "The Problems of Alger Hiss: The past, the small jobs and a certain notoriety". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. Brower, Brock (July 1961). "Who's in Among the Analysts: Or how to tell one from the other before you settle for the couch". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  13. Brower, Brock (October 1961). "Fraternities: It's national vs. local in this civil war". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  14. Brower, Brock (March 1962). "The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Revisited: They have another bridgehead now". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  15. Brower, Brock (March 1962). "Mary McCarthyism: The lady is pretty and nice and smart. Smarter than you are, probably". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  16. Brower, Brock (February 1963). "The Brothers Cassini: Oleg and Igor: the Clothes and the Column". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  17. Brower, Brock (June 1964). "The Vulgarization of American Demonology: What was once, monster-wise, noble and true and frightening has become no more than a comic shadow of its former self". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  18. Brower, Brock (April 1968). "Rockabye: If at last you don't succeed, die, die, die again". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  19. Brower, Brock (January 1971). "Dylan's Boathouse: For sale: chrmg wterside cottge w/slp-in quartrs for the Muse". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  20. Brower, Brock (November 1971). "Play It Again, Sam, Bogie, Harry, Wendell, Claude: One more time, those good old Forties' blues". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  21. Brower, Brock (February 1975). "The Conscience of Leon Jaworski: Never underestimate it; those who did are very, very sorry". Esquire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
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