Born in Oxford, Mississippi in 1951, Larry Brown served as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Upon his return home, he joined the Oxford Fire Department. During down time, Brown wrote stories that he submitted to magazines. After years of rejections, his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Facing the Music, appeared in 1988 to critical acclaim. One of the short stories in that collection was "Samaritans"; on display is the first page of an earlier draft from the Larry Brown Collection. Before his death in 2005, Brown produced eight additional volumes.

The 2001 independent film Big Bad Love brings to the screen the second of Brown's short story collections. Arliss Howard produced, directed, co-wrote, and stars as Leon Barlow, an alcoholic struggling writer with a rich fantasy life and a troubled reality. Besides a cast that includes Debra Winger, Rosanna Arquette, and Angie Dickinson, Brown himself appears on screen in a cameo role as Mr. Barlow. The author also wrote the introduction to the liner notes of the soundtrack which features a number of North Mississippi bluesmen.

The following year Gary Hawkins released his documentary The Rough South of Larry Brown. Interwoven with the documentary footage of Brown and his wife are fictional adaptations of three short stories: "Samaritans," "Wild Thing," and "Boy & Dog" (in the latter, Brown plays the role of Fire Chief). The Rough South won several awards at film festivals including "Best Feature Film" at the Ohio Independent Film Festival, "Best Feature" at the Savannah Film & Video Festival, "Best Cinematography" at River Run International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, and "Best Documentary" at the Oxford Film Festival.