Les Brown, a pioneering journalist who wrote about television for Variety and The New York Times, died Nov. 4. He was 84.
Brown succumbed to lung cancer at his Larchmont, N.Y. home, his daughter Jessica Brown confirmed to The New York Times.
The veteran reporter began his career in 1953, writing about radio on the entertainment beat for Variety. As television began to gain steam, his reporting focused on the medium.
In 1981, Brown founded the industry magazine Channels of Communications, which was one of the first to look beyond the TV screens into boardrooms.
During his decades-long career, he penned seven books and took on the daunting task of writing the television encyclopedia.
Brown was born in Indiana and raised in Chicago. He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years Jean Slaymaker and his daughters Jessica and Rebecca Brown.
