Alan Brien
{{Short description|English journalist and novelist (1925–2008)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
Alan Brien (12 March 1925 – 23 May 2008) was an English journalist best known for his novel Lenin. This took the form of a fictional diary charting Vladimir Lenin's life from the death of his father to shortly before his own demise in 1924.{{cite book|author=Alan Brien|title=Lenin: the novel|url=https://archive.org/details/leninnovel00brie|url-access=registration|year=1987|publisher=Morrow|isbn=978-0-688-07944-4}}
Biography
Brien was born in Sunderland and educated at Bede Grammar School, and Jesus College, Oxford. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/26/pressandpublishing | title=Obituary: Alan Brien | website=TheGuardian.com | date=25 May 2008 }}
During his career in journalism, Brien worked as a theatre and film critic, columnist and foreign correspondent for a variety of publications, most notably The Sunday Times, Punch, the New Statesman and The Observer. During the 1960s he appeared on TV as a regular on "Three After Six". The three in question were Benny Green, Dee Wells and Brien. The programme would discuss the day's news and current affairs.[http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/14th-january-1966/14/television Amazing Depths], 14 January 1966, The Spectator, retrieved 25 June 2016
Personal life and death
Brien died on 23 May 2008, survived by his fourth wife, the writer Jane Hill, with whom he had shared an ancient cottage in Highgate Village.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081121185851/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4003723.ece Obituary], The Times His earlier wives included the British journalist and feminist writer Jill Tweedie.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/26/pressandpublishing | title=Obituary: Alan Brien | website=TheGuardian.com | date=25 May 2008 }}
References
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External links
- [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/26/pressandpublishing Obituary: Guardian]
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-brien-witty-intelligent-journalist-and-author-of-lenin-the-novel-837439.html Obituary: Independent]
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Category:Writers from Sunderland
Category:English male journalists
Category:British theatre critics
Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Category:People educated at Bede Grammar School for Boys
Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Category:English male novelists
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:20th-century English male writers
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