author Ron Brown dies at 58


BANGOR, Maine Pat Culumovic will never forget the night.


He and his John Bapst basketball teammates were warming up for the last game of the 1983 84 regular season, against Bangor Christian, at the Bangor Auditorium.


"The players knew nothing about it," he said. "Emotionally, we had kind of struggled with his illness.


"His suffering over," said Shelly (Hall) Brown, Ron wife of nearly 25 years and a driving force behind his ability to overcome the side effects of kidney failure and continue coaching and writing productively.


"Most people didn realize how sick he was because he was such a good actor," she said. "There was a private Ron and a public Ron."


Brown, a Camden native, was a fixture on the Eastern Maine basketball scene for more than 30 years, from the time he took his first job in Maine as a teacher and coach at Central High School in Corinth in 1976.


He also was the head coach at several other schools, including Penquis High in Milo, Piscataquis High in Guilford, John Bapst High in Bangor, Hampden Academy, Bangor Christian School, Machias High School, Searsport High School (girls) and Narraguagus High of Harrington. He also held the men post at Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor.


Brown, the son of late Bangor entrepreneur Doug Brown, guided the Machias boys to the Eastern Maine Class D championship and a state runner up finish in 1992.


Brown high school teams compiled a Whi... Leather Beverly 100mm combined record of 213 143 (.598), including 11 title game appearances. From 1984 on, he performed his job while dealing with kidney issues, including a transplant.


"He was an excellent tactician and paid attention to detail," said Culumovic, who also assisted Brown for one season at Bapst. "I think that why we won under him."


Jamie Russell, the boys basketball coach at Penobscot Valley in Howland, played his senior year under Brown at Penquis and later coached against some of his teams.


"He was a real gentleman," Russell said. "His kids had to look good, had to have a shirt and tie on. He took to heart that you a reflection of Bl... Suede Big Dorcet 120mm your school and a representative of your community."


Whether in practice or on the sidelines during games, Brown usually maintained his soft spoken, calm demeanor. Only occasionally did he confront game officials as he preached the importance of decorum, respect and sportsmanship.


"He was part of the education process and believed in it. He was a teacher and a coach," said Maine Basketball Commissioner Peter Webb.


"He was a guardian of sports overall and of the game of basketball specifically," he added. "Ron believed in the need to prepare and strive for the best. He didn see that positive sportsmanship was an enemy of competition."


Brown tenure Down East was notable, since his deliberate offensive philosophy clashed with the traditional fast paced style played there.


"I can say that I liked the type of ball that he coached, but against us it was effective," former Jonesport Beals coach Ordie Alley said with a chuckle.


"You can imagine how dedicated that man Leath... Bloody Mary 120mm was to travel all the way down here to coach basketball," he added. "He certainly a fighter. To do what he did and be as sick as he was was unbelievable."


Russell said the public focus on the offensive scheme employed by Brown coached teams took attention away from their commitment to defense.


"His teams were very underrated defensively," Russell said.


Alley recalled the summer he called Brown to inquire about putting a Jonesport Beals team in the HOOPS Inc. summer league in Bangor. The schedule had already been completed.


"He threw it right in the garbage and remade everything," Alley said. "He made a point of trying to get us in for the early games if he could because we had so far to travel."


Brown even coached in the professional ranks, directing the now defunct Maine Lumberjacks of the Continental Basketball Association during the 1979 80 and 1980 81 seasons.


While he had aspired to coach in the NBA, the CBA experience helped him gain a deeper Si... Leather Beverly 100mm appreciation for working with high school athletes.


"[In high school], you can build character and teach values," Brown told the BDN in 1982. "I like watching a sophomore grow into a poised young man."