Cecil Brown

Cecil Brown (September 14, 1907 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania – October 25, 1987) was the author of the book "Suez to Singapore", which describes the sinking of "HMS Repulse" in December 1941. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6410 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to radio. [ [http://www.tibp.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.dll/wlx/dir/wlxdirectory?cc=WOFAME Hollywood Chamber of Commerce] : Walk of Fame directory] . He was a war correspondent who worked closely with Edward R. Murrow during WWII.

Career

Early career

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1929 Brown left the United States for the Mediterranean and Black Seas where he worked as a seaman. He eventually returned to the United States where he worked as a journalist at several small newspapers. By 1937 he was back in Europe working as a freelancer.

Career at CBS

CBS hired Brown in 1940 as their correspondent in Rome where he openly criticized the regime of Benito Mussolini. In 1941 the Italian government had had enough of Brown's rhetoric and expelled him from the country. After his expulsion from Italy CBS sent Brown to Singapore. Dec. 1941 Brown was moved to Singapore via the British cruiser "HMS Repulse". The "Repulse" was attacked by land based Japanese bomber aircraft and sunk with Brown aboard. He narrowly escaped the ailing ship with his life. The experience led him to write "Suez to Singapore" which was published in 1942. He was part of a larger group of reporters known as Murrow's Boys.

In 1942 Brown resigned from CBS but continued to cover the war.

Career after CBS

After leaving CBS Brown covered the rest of the war at home, in the United States, for theMutual Network. When WWII ended Brown continued to work in broadcast journalism as a correspondent for Mutual, NBC and ABC. He retired from broadcasting in 1967 and went to work as a professor of communication arts at Cal Poly Pomona where he worked until he died.

Honors

*Overseas Press Club: Best Reporter Award
*1941: Peabody Award for Outstanding Reporting of the News [ [http://www.peabody.uga.edu:16080/media/PeabodyWinnersBook.pdf Peabody Award winners list] ]
*JournalistInducted Into The Warren City Schools Hall Of Fame In Ohio [http://www.warrenschools.k12.oh.us/alumni_hall_of_fame.html]

=References and further reading=Bernstein, Mark, "World War II on the air: Edward R Murrow and the broadcasts that riveted a nation" (Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc, 2003)

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