Porter Emerson Browne, an American writer, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. He wrote several plays, including A Fool There Was (1909), which was made for film twice, in 1915 and 1922; The Spendthrift (1910); Chains (1912); and The Bad Man (1920), which was filmed three times, in 1923, 1930, and 1941. Mabel Normand's dramatic vehicle Joan of Plattsburg (1918) was also based on a Browne play. The historian John Toland wrote a love portrait of Browne in his book. Toland, who was barely a teenager at the time, wanted to be a writer and was intrigued when Browne moved in with his family. Most importantly, Browne taught him how to become a writer. He took the young Toland into his study and showed him a little stage next to his typewriter. Small figurines stood on stage. "I just watch them and let them do everything they have to do," Toland was quoted as saying. "Then I type down everything they say." When Toland wrote his autobiography in his eighties, after writing numerous novels, he remembered Browne's example. He thanked Browne with teaching him how to listen when interviewing horrible individuals from history without passing judgment. Toland, like Browne, offered structure and context before recording anything they said.
