Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown, born 28 November 1944, is a prolific American writer and feminist. She is mostly known for her first novel, Rubyfruit Jungle. The novel dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time when the novel was written. Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania to an unmarried, teenage mother and her mother’s married boyfriend. She was left at an orphanage because her mother was too young to take care of her. Instead, Brown was raised by her mother’s cousin Julia Brown and her husband Ralph who lived in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.