He and his two siblings, Tor and Richard, were brought up in Lansing, Michigan.
Though criticized for the "popular" rather than "academic" orientation of his books, The Vanishing Hitchhiker and others, Brunvand felt that it was a "natural and worthwhile part of his job as a folklorist to communicate the results of his research to the public." įor his lifetime dedication to the field of folklore, which included radio and television appearances, a syndicated newspaper column, and over 100 publications (articles, books, notes and reviews), Brunvand is considered to be "the legend scholar with the greatest influence on twentieth-century media." Early life and education īrunvand was born on March 23, 1933, in Cadillac, Michigan, to Norwegian immigrants Harold N.
"Urban legends," Brunvand says, "have a persistent hold on the imagination because they have an element of suspense or humor, they are plausible and they have a moral." Urban legends are "too good to be true" stories that travel by word of mouth, by print, or by the internet and are attributed to an FOAF: friend of a friend. īrunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, a form of modern folklore or story telling. Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah.
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