Brown, Christy (1932-1981), was an Irish novelist and poet. He was born in a Dublin slum, the 10th of 22 children. He had cerebral palsy from birth, a severely crippling condition caused by damage to the brain. Eventually, Brown found that he could control his left foot. He learned to use that foot to paint and to type his autobiography, My Left Foot, first published in 1954 and republished in 1972 as The Childhood Story of Christy Brown. The book is a vivid account of the poverty and violence of the Dublin slums. Brown produced a number of striking novels, notably the long autobiographical novel Down All the Days (1970), which became an international best seller. His other novels were A Shadow on Summer (1974), Wild Grow the Lilies (1976), and A Promising Career (1982). His Collected Poems was published in 1982. Brown died on Sept. 6, 1981.