Lilian Jackson Brown

Lilian Jackson Braun , b. Jackson (born June 20, 1913 in Chicopee , Hampden County , Massachusetts , † June 4, 2011 in Landrum , Spartanburg County , South Carolina ) was an American writer .

Her best-known work is the "The Cat Who ..." series (in the original: "The Cat Who ..."), in which the two cats Koko and Yum Yum support journalist James Qwilleran in solving criminal cases.

Life

Braun began writing as a teenager as a sports reporter for Derry News . She later worked as a copywriter for many Detroit department stores. She moved to the Detroit Free Press and wrote as an editor for 30 years before retiring in 1978.

Between 1966 and 1968 she published her first three novels, which marked the beginning of the "The Cat, the" series. The novels were a huge hit, and Braun was named Detective of the Year by the New York Times . But then her career stalled because harder crime novels were in demand. It was not until 18 years later that a new book from her pen appeared in 1986. In two years she published four novels and reprinted the 1960s books, and the series again proved to be a bestseller. Since then, at least one, and usually several, books from their series have been published each year. In January 2006 the series had grown to 28 books.

Like many authors in her class, Braun could not make friends with modern technology; she wrote her works on a typewriter. She lived in North Carolina with her second husband, Earl Bettinger, and two cats.

The cat who ...

The main characters in the series are newspaper reporter James Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. You live in the fictional town of Pickax in Moose County, "400 miles north of the rest of the world." Each of these books was dedicated to her husband, "Earl Bettinger, the Husband Who ..." Braun was modeled on the town of Bad Ax , Michigan , where she lived with her husband for many years.

Works

• On the hangover coconut trail. (1966) (reprinted under the title: The Cat That Could Read Backwards )
• Hangover coconut second case. (1968) (New edition under the title: The cat that put out the light )
• The cat that could read backwards. (Volume 1) (1991)
• The cat that bit the wing chair. (Volume 2) (May 1995)
• The cat that put out the light. (Volume 3) (December 1995)
• The cat who saw red. (Volume 4) (June 1992)
• The cat who played Brahms. (Volume 5) (October 1992)
• The cat who played the postman. (Volume 6) (July 1996)
• The cat Shakespeare knew. (Volume 7) (February 1992)
• The cat that sniffed glue. (Volume 8) (January 1993)
• The cat who loved lipstick. (Volume 9) (1993)
• The cat that conjured spirits. (Volume 10) (July 1993)
• The cat that wanted high. (Volume 11) (October 1993)
• The cat who knew a cardinal. (Volume 12) (February 1994)
• The cat that moved mountains. (Volume 13) (1994)
• The cat who took pink pills. (Volume 14) (July 1994)
• The cat that disappeared in the closet. (Volume 15) (January 1995)
• The cat who played dominoes. (Volume 16) (October 1995)
• The cat that sounded the alarm. (Volume 17) (March 1996)
• The cat who had a crush on cheese. (Volume 18) (March 1997)
• The cat who drove the thief away. (Volume 19) (October 1997)
• The cat who studied singing. (Volume 20) (August 1998)
• The cat who saw the stars. (Volume 21) (March 2000)
• The cat who robbed the bank. (Volume 22) (July 2001)
• The cat that smelled the roast. (Volume 23) (March 2002)
• The cat that got into swimming. (Volume 24) (April 2003)
• The cat that got applause. (Volume 25) (January 2004)
• The cat that listened to the turkey. (Volume 26) (October 2005)
• The cat who stole bananas. (Volume 27) (January 2007)
• The cat that fell from the sky. (Volume 28) (October 2007)
• The cat who played detective. (1997) (Volumes 1 to 3 in one book)
• The cat that read minds. (Volume 29) (January 2009)
• The cat that laughed last. (Volume 30) (June 1999) (14 short stories)

Audio books

• Phut Phat focuses / SuSu and the mind. (September 2006)
• The cat with the long whiskers / The dark one. (October 2005)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20110607/NEWS/110609883
2. ↑ Margalit Fox: Lilian Jackson Braun, 'Cat Who' Writer, Dies at 97. In: nytimes.com. June 7, 2011, accessed January 8, 2017 . 

Web links

• Literature by and about Lilian Jackson Braun in the catalog of the German National Library