Norman D. Brown, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Texas, specializing in the History of the American South and History of Texas Politics.
THE person responsible for my interest in military history and science fiction. A man with an inexhaustible supply of Civil War minutiae who refused to write about it because it was "too commercial"... leaving that to friends like Shelby Foote and Ken Burns. He was a popular teacher with the students and his classes were always filled to capacity.
A lifelong technophobe, he refused to use a computer and it took years to get him to use an electric typewriter. Never had an email account and never played or saw a computer wargame. Such a loss... he would have been the perfect opponent, but it was not to be. I wonder what extra info he could have added to the Civil War 150th thread? On all our family vacations when I was a child, there was never a road sign or monument that he couldn't supplement with fascinating details and stories. When visiting battlefields, he put the Rangers to shame with his knowledge. Just an incredible knowledge of Civil War lore.
I was planning a trip down to Austin to see him this summer... and suddenly he is gone... trouble breathing on Saturday and died early Monday morning, but without pain or suffering. He was 79 years old.
It just brings it home how life is so fragile and how it can slip away without warning.
Enjoy every minute friends. Wishing you all good health and many more years of life.
