{{Short description|American newspaper editor and poet (1801-1841)}} '''James Gordon Brooks''' (September 3, 1801 – February 20, 1841) was an American newspaper editor and poet who sometimes published under the pen name "Florio."
Brooks was born in Red Hook, New York in 1801 and spent much of his childhood in Poughkeepsie.<ref name="Mirror">{{Cite journal |first= |date=1828-01-26 |others= |title=James G. Brooks |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-mirror-a-weekly-gazette-of-literature_1828-01-26_5_29 |journal=New-York Mirror and Ladies' Literary Gazette |language=English |publisher=Open Court Publishing Co. |volume=5 |issue=29}}</ref> His father was an officer in the Revolutionary army.<ref name="Compendium">{{Cite book |last=Cleveland |first=Charles Dexter |url=http://archive.org/details/acompendiumamer01clevgoog |title=A compendium of American literature, chronologically arranged; with biographical sketches of the authors |date=1859 |publisher=Philadelphia, J.A. Bancroft |others=Harvard University |pages=488–490}}</ref>
In 1819, Brooks graduated from Union College, where he studied law.<ref name="Compendium" /> After graduation, he took on a position as editor of the ''Morning Courier'' in New York, where he remained until 1829.<ref name="Mirror" /><ref name="Compendium" />
In 1829, Brooks married Mary Elizabeth Aikin, who had written poetry under the name "Norna."<ref name="Compendium" /><ref>May, Caroline, ed. (1854). ''The American Female Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices''. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blariston, p. 281.</ref> Later that year, the couple published a collection of their poems entitled ''The Rivals of Este: and Other Poems''. Brooks had previously published his poems under the pen name "Florio."<ref name="Mirror" /><ref name="Compendium" /><ref>"Married." ''Commercial Advertiser'' (New York), January 24, 1829.</ref> They had a daughter, Constantina E. Brooks, who also became a poet.<ref>Miss Brooks' Sudden Death Last Evening. The Argus (Albany, NY), December 7, 1910.</ref>
After leaving the ''Courier'', Brooks edited newspapers in other parts of the country, including in Winchester, Virginia; Rochester, New York; and Albany, New York.<ref name="Compendium" />
In 1841, Brooks died in Albany after a long illness.<ref name="Compendium" /><ref>''The Register'' (Onondaga Hollow, NY), May 19, 1822.</ref><ref>"Death of 'Florio.'" ''Liberator'' (Boston) March 5, 1841.</ref>
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=James G. |last2=Brooks |first2=Mary E. |title=The Rivals of Este: and Other Poems |date=1828 |publisher=J. & J. Harper |location=New York |oclc=191251360}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:1801 births Category:1841 deaths Category:19th-century American newspaper editors Category:19th-century American poets Category:Poets from New York (state) Category:Journalists from New York (state)