Jamie Foster Brown

Jamie Foster Brown (ca. June 26, 1946) is the former owner and publisher of Sister 2 Sister magazine, which ran from 1988 to 2014. Newsweek called it the "African-American version of People magazine." As an entertainment journalist, Brown wrote a regular column in her magazine, called "Meow", and through it and her interviews with celebrities, she became the first nationally known black female gossip columnist.

Personal Jamie Foster Brown's hometown is Chicago, Illinois. She and her sister Stella Foster were raised in an Englewood, Chicago neighborhood. Her parents, Peter James and Mamie Lee Foster, were neighborhood storekeepers. Brown was educated at Calumet High School, started college in Chicago, and later transferred and then graduated with a B.A. from Stockholm University.

Her sister Stella Foster also wrote for Sister 2 Sister magazine. She worked with Irv Kupcinet, an entertainment journalist at the Chicago Sun-Times, and after his death wrote her own column and retired in 2012.

Brown was married to Dr. Lorenzo Brown, a former economist, from 1970 until his death in 2015. The family made Stockholm, Sweden their home for nine years while the couple had two sons, Randy and Russell, and Foster attended university. Her husband and two sons worked for the magazine.

In 1979, Brown started a ticket company, Washington Theater Group. As a TV producer, Brown had met musical talent, such as Whitney Houston and others, and would later use her contacts for her entertainment reporting. Brown has said in interviews that she is not a writer but an interviewer and storyteller, and she wanted to write stories about how celebrities were made. She formed the idea for her own magazine while writing for Impact magazine and other publications.

Brown has reported about the musical group Milli Vanilli's lip syncing recordings and performances.

In 2008, a judge ordered rap artist DMX to pay 1.5 million to Monique Wayne because of a comment he had made to Brown in a 2006 interview for Sister 2 Sister magazine alleging that a woman had raped him and given birth to his child. Wayne's original suit was for "defamation, false statements and 'unreasonable publicity' about her private life".

Brown was interviewed about Michael Jackson, and said that his children were well-adjusted and that Jackson seemed like a good father to her.

In popular culture Brown appeared on the cover of the November 2013 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine as it celebrated its 25th anniversary, and was interviewed.

Awards Midwest Radio and Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, 1998 Golden Scissors (black hair style), Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002 Association for Women in Communications, Matrix Award for Professional Achievement, 2004 Bennett College, honorary doctorate, 2008 T.H.E. B.L.A.C.K.W.O.O.D Worldwide - Matriarch Pioneer of Jubilee 2024 Cafe Mocha Radio - 2014 Trailblazer Award Legendary Awards - Media Icon Award 2013

Selected writings Shabazz, Betty, and Jamie Foster Brown. 1998. Betty Shabazz: a sisterfriends' tribute in words and pictures. New York: Simon & Schuster.