Brown, Brooks 1981(?)-

views updated

BROWN, Brooks 1981(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1981; son of Randy and Judy Brown. Education: Graduated from Columbine High School, 1999.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Lantern Books, 1 Union Square W., Suite 201, New York, NY 10003.

CAREER:

Writer. Consultant on the film Bowling for Columbine, Dog Eat Dog Films, 2002.

WRITINGS:

(With Rob Merritt) No Easy Answers: The Truth behind Death at Columbine, Lantern Books (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brooks Brown was a senior at Columbine High School in 1999 when two of his friends, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went on a shooting rampage that killed twelve students and one teacher and wounded at least two dozen others. Brown was possibly the last person to speak to Harris on April 20, 1999, before the shooting spree began. Because of his contact with the killer, Brown was erroneously suspected by police and others of having been an accomplice in the crime. No Easy Answers: The Truth behind Death at Columbine is the first account written by one of the students of Columbine, someone who knew both the victims and the perpetrators of the murders. Brown's collaboration with journalist Rob Merritt includes first person recollections, journalism, and interviews.

Growing up in Littleton, Colorado, Brown was already a close friend of Klebold when Eric Harris moved to the area from Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. Although friendly at first, he and Harris became estranged in high school, and Harris posted death threats against Brown on his Web site in 1998. Brown's parents brought the Web site to the attention of local law enforcement officials, but no action was taken. Brown and Harris reached a reconciliation of sorts during the winter of 1999, when they were in several classes together.

In No Easy Answers, Brown, as someone who knew both shooters well, discusses possible motivation for the rage that led to the attack. He describes the school culture as giving preferential treatment to "jocks," or sports stars, while subjecting individualists to unrelenting bullying, and he places much of the blame for the violence on the school and law enforcement officials who did nothing to relieve the situation. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that "too little time has elapsed since the shootings for Brown to have the perspective necessary to make this a definitive work." However, in Booklist, reviewer John Green described the volume as "gripping and provocative," calling it an "excellent choice for outsider teens wondering if there's a light at the end of the bullying tunnel."