When My Left Foot became a literary sensation, one of the many people who wrote letters to Brown was married American woman Beth Moore. Collis discovered that Brown was also a natural novelist and, later, Collis helped use his own connections to publish My Left Foot, by then a long-gestating autobiographical account of Brown's struggle with everyday life amidst the vibrant culture of Dublin. At St Brendan's he came in contact with Robert Collis, an author. Brown quickly matured into a serious artist.Īlthough Brown famously received almost no formal schooling during his youth, he did attend St Brendan's School-Clinic in Sandymount intermittently. He had also demonstrated extremely impressive physical dexterity since, soon after discovering several household books, Christy had learned to both write and draw himself, with the only limb over which he had unequivocal control: his left leg. During Brown's adolescence, social worker Katriona Delahunt became aware of his story and began to visit the Brown family regularly, while bringing Christy books and painting materials as, over the years, he had shown a keen interest in the arts and literature. Though urged to commit him to a hospital, Brown's parents were unswayed and subsequently determined to raise him at home with their other children. After his birth, doctors discovered that he had severe cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder which left him almost entirely spastic in his limbs. Out of these 22, 13 lived while 9 died in infancy. His parents were Bridget Fagan (1901–1968) and Patrick Brown.

It was later made into a 1989 Academy Award-winning film My Left Foot, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Brown.Ĭhristy Brown was born into a working-class Irish family at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in June 1932. His most recognized work is his autobiography, titled Down All The Days (1954). Christy Brown (5 June 1932 – 7 September 1981) was an Irish writer and painter who had cerebral palsy and was able to write or type only with the toes of one foot.

My left foot autobiography