The author John D. Fitzgerald had an interesting life that connected to the book that he wrote, The Great Brain. Here are some similarities that Fitzgerald had in his childhood with The Great Brain’s (Tom’s) childhood. Tom is the name of John D. Fitzgerald’s father. Also, Tom is the middle son in the book, also known as the Great Brain. John’s family lived in eastern Utah, like in the book, and had a farm with three horses. One horse was actually named Brownie, but in the book, John Fitzgerald replaced the horse with a dog named Brownie. Fitzgerald was also busy doing his chores along with his brothers like in The Great Brain, and they had their fair share of chores. After they did their share of chores, they could play or do what they wanted. The kids always went to school, like in the book, until they got the measles which meant that they had to stay quarantined until they got well. I am assuming that Fitzgerald wrote this book to tell fun stories based on his life. John D. Fitzgerald’s life didn’t always feel animated for him, so he wrote books to make his life more sparky.