Marc Brown
Keynote Speaker – Author & Illustrator of the “Arthur” series
TYA/USA on Tour @ First Stage in Milwaukee, WI
Content Warning: This recording includes curse words that are not suitable for a young audience.
Marc Brown is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Arthur series and executive producer of ARTHUR on PBS. The show has won seven Emmys, the Peabody Award, The 2019 Television Critics Award and is now the longest running children’s animated show in history. The Arthur books have sold more than 75 million copies and the show is seen by children all around the world. He is currently working on HOP, a new animated preschool television series and two other television productions based on book collaborations with R.L. Stine.
“When my three sisters and I were growing up near Erie, Pennsylvania, our grandmother Thora told us the most wonderful stories anytime we wanted them. Back then I never dreamed I would grow up to tell stories of my own,” says Marc Brown. “But when my first son, Tolon, was born, I started telling him stories every night before he went to sleep. Most of the stories were about animals. One night our story was about an aardvark who hated his nose. The aardvark, of course, was named Arthur, and that story became Arthur’s Nose, the first book in the Arthur Adventure series.”
What began as a simple family ritual soon grew into a full-time profession for Marc Brown. Trained at the Cleveland Art Institute, he went on to create more than one hundred and thirty picture books for children. Before his current success, Marc worked at many jobs, including stints as a truck driver, soda jerk, actor, chicken farmer, television art director, short order cook, and college professor.
Marc is married to psychologist and artist, Laurie Krasny Brown. They have collaborated on the bestselling Dino Life Guides for Families and divide their time between New York City and a small farm on Martha’s Vineyard. They have three grown children and two cats on dietary restrictions.
