# Carson Brewer
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{{short description|American journalist (1920–2003)}}
{{Lead too long|date=February 2026}}
'''Carson Brewer''' (February 2, 1920 – January 15, 2003) was an [American](/source/United_States_of_America) journalist and conservationist, best known for his work documenting the folk life of [Knoxville](/source/Knoxville%2C_Tennessee) and the surrounding [Appalachia](/source/Appalachia)n communities in [East Tennessee](/source/East_Tennessee). During his 40-year career as a columnist for the ''[Knoxville News-Sentinel](/source/Knoxville_News-Sentinel)'', Brewer was a key voice for the promotion and protection of the region's natural wonders, especially the [Great Smoky Mountains](/source/Great_Smoky_Mountains). His historical work included the first extensive history of the [Little Tennessee River](/source/Little_Tennessee_River) valley and one of the first comprehensive histories of the [Tennessee Valley Authority](/source/Tennessee_Valley_Authority).[Connie Lester, [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=131 Carson Brewer]. ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002. Retrieved: 19 February 2009.]
Brewer was born in [Hancock County, Tennessee](/source/Hancock_County%2C_Tennessee) in 1920, the son of a local postmaster. He attended [Maryville College](/source/Maryville_College) for two years before joining the U.S. Army in 1941 at the outbreak of [World War II](/source/World_War_II). After the war, Brewer attended the [University of Tennessee](/source/University_of_Tennessee), but due to illness, he never obtained a degree. He joined the staff of the ''News-Sentinel'' in 1945, and in 1948 he married pioneering female journalist Alberta Trulock (1917—2007).[Alberta and Carson Brewer, ''Valley So Wild'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1975), introduction.] In the early 1980s, Brewer wrote a series of articles documenting the history of the Tennessee Valley Authority and its effects on the inhabitants of East Tennessee. He retired from the ''News-Sentinel'' in 1985, but continued writing until his death in 2003.