Obituary of Lester Louis Brown

Les Brown, Journalist of the Business of TV and Radio, dies at 84 20 December 1928 - 4 November 2013 Lester Louis Brown - born in Indiana Harbor, Indiana, the son of Polish-German immigrants, and a graduate of Roosevelt University - began his career in Chicago with the show-business newspaper Variety in 1953. In 1965 he transferred to New York to become Variety's TV/Radio editor, advancing to assistant managing editor. It was at this time that he settled with his wife Jean (Slaymaker) Brown and family in Larchmont, NY, where he lived until his passing on November 4th. He left Variety to join the New York Times in 1972 as its television columnist. After a pressman's strike at the paper in 1978 he was urged by the John & Mary Markle Foundation to create a first-of-its-kind magazine of credible, objective criticism of television, launching Channels of Communication in 1981. Six years later the magazine went commercial, and was acquired by TV producer Norman Lear. The new company was expanding into other publications and Brown created an international trade magazine called TBI - Television Business International, based in England, for which he wrote a monthly column in addition to his role as publisher. During his career as a journalist, he wrote seven books, including three editions of his Encyclopedia of Television. Perhaps his most important book was his first - Televi$ion: The Business Behind the Box - which documented a year in television (1971) and revealed how the American system works. He also taught at a number of universities through his career, including The New School, Hunter College, Yale University, Colombia University's School of Business and Fordham Graduate School. In 1991 he was named a senior fellow of the Freedom Forum Media Study Center at Colombia and was associated with the Banff Television Festival in Canada; The Prix Jeunesse in Munich; the Rose d'Or in Montreux, Switzerland; the Monte Carlo TV Festival; and the Prix Italia, variously as jury member, speaker at the seminars, and writer for the daily papers they produced. Previous to his journalistic career, Brown brushed elbows with the music business when he opened the historic, Chicago based folk club - The Gate of Horn - in 1957 with a college buddy, the late Albert Grossman (who later went on to manage Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Band, and others…). The club became a favorite for such folk heroes as Odetta, Big Bill Broonzy, Roger (Jim) McGuinn and Bob Gibson, with whom Brown co-wrote the country classic "Abilene." The tune was later recorded by George Hamilton IV, whose version would hit #1 on the US Hot Country Billboard Charts in 1963. Despite many accolades of his pioneering career in television business journalism, Brown often, proudly told friends that "his greatest accomplishment was [his] family." His children-Jessica Brown, Rebecca Brown Adelman, and Josh Brown - were at his side when he passed on Monday night. Lester Louis Brown is survived by his wife Jean, daughters Jessica (husband Brent Mitchell) and Rebecca (husband Todd Adelman) and son Josh (wife Michele Garner). He was the proud grandfather of Ryan and Elise Mitchell, Abilene Adelman and Jamison and Waylon Brown. He is also survived by two sisters, Marion Raisman of Chicago, IL and Anita Duxler of Tuscon, AZ. A memorial service will be held at the Community Unitarian Church of White Plains, New York April 26th 11:00 AM.. Donations can be made in his name to the American Lung Association.