Douglas Allen Brown was not only a friend to all people – he was a friend to all creatures great and small. His gentle kindness and compassion, innate qualities that flowed in his daily interactions with friends, newspaper colleagues, and strangers, also came shining through when Doug worked with, educated people about, or crossed paths with animals of all kinds. I’m not kidding – *all* kinds.
My best friend who went to heaven at 45 in October 2002 when his heart gave out after he finished doing yardwork, Doug celebrated his 67th birthday Tuesday with his angel family and friends.
Doug and I had a too-short 15-year friendship starting in 1987 after I arrived at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a young journalist. We worked together on the newspaper’s Sports copy desk; commiserated about our Astros; played dozens of rounds of golf together (it was Doug who persuaded me to take up the sport); and stood as best man at our weddings (Kay and me in September 1994, Melissa and Doug in October 1998).
As best friends do, we also shared our personal lives and problems, supporting each other through the valleys and celebrating the peaks. Doug was so good at this part – I was only one of countless people he opened his ears and heart to whenever they needed it.
Doug cherished his many years volunteering at the Fort Worth Zoo, teaching visitors of all ages about every critter you can imagine. He especially embraced sharing his knowledge with children.
He was passionate about soccer. Although the Astros were by far his favorite Houston sports team, he loved the Rockets and Oilers too.
Doug loved God and his son Jesus Christ dearly. And he loved Melissa, a kindergarten teacher whom Doug married just four years before his passing.
He had the best smile. He had the best dimples. He had the best, most inviting demeanor – except sometimes when deadline was bearing down on all of us. He also hit the best, straightest golf shots with the smoothest, easiest swings, and that’s why he was a par machine. Unfortunately, Doug’s golf success never consistently found its way to my game, but walking courses with our pull carts and other dear newspaper friends all those years was an experience I’ll always treasure (we welcomed the exercise and made too little as journalists to pay for riding carts).
One of Doug’s most admirable traits was that he was willing, eager, and happy to help anyone, no matter what they needed. I’m sure part of the reason Doug went through life lifting others up had to do with the way he was raised – his father, the Rev. Allen Hawley Brown, was a Presbyterian minister. Doug’s faith was strong, and he was also an elder in his church. But I also think it was just the kind of guy Doug was.
In 2021 when I posted a birthday tribute to Doug, a number of our friends/former Star-Telegram colleagues commented with their own memories. One was from Mike Sweeney, who went on to be a distinguished journalism professor at Ohio University and had been fighting cancer for several years. Mike passed away five months later, but on that birthday post for Doug, he left this wonderful memory:
“He was quite sweet-hearted. Also a good friend when one was needed. I recall asking around the S-T newsroom whether anyone could give me a hand in putting up the basketball backboard and rim above my garage. Doug volunteered. He crawled into a narrow space in the attic on a summer afternoon to ferry incoming screws (me, outside on a ladder) into a set of pre-drilled holes. Not the most pleasant task, but we ‘Got ‘ER Done.’ ”
The same year, our friend and S-T Sports colleague Joe McDaniel, who has been waging his own cancer battle for a while, posted this great tribute to Doug:
“Doug was like a supportive big brother. He edited my stories and taught me through them. When I had a good night, he was there to praise. When I had a bad night, he was there to encourage and build me up. And I loved his stories of when he lived in small towns and Wichita Falls. And how to pronounce the small town of Burnet. ‘Durn it, Burnet, can’t ya learn it.’ ”
A few years earlier in another of my birthday posts about Doug, our friend and colleague Paige Sanders wrote:
“Doug was the nicest person I’ve ever met. Each time there’s a storm I think of him and the night after work when driving rain was keeping several of us in the building. Doug somehow got to his truck, then drove to the door and picked up a colleague and took each to his/her vehicle. I don’t know how many trips he made, but it was many. Such a gentleman.”
Those of us who were fortunate enough to be friends with DAB, to work side by side with him, to be the recipient of his gracious gestures of human decency and selflessness, have missed him every day since he left. And we are grateful in knowing that we will see him again when our time comes.
Douger, please put in a good word for our Astros as they try to hang on to first place in the AL West down the stretch – and if they do, for the playoffs too. A third World Series trophy would be a mighty nice gift for folks like you and me who’ve been fans for a long time and the younger ones too.
Love you always, my Brother. ❤
A Life of Words 