Malcolm Brown – 50th Reunion Essay

Malcolm Brown

1110 Arbor Road

Winston-Salem, United States (1) 27104

drbrown@brown-house.net

336-761-8056

Spouse(s): Patricia Athey Brown (1971)

Child(ren): Preston Brown (1976); Kenton Brown (1976); Emily Rostlund (1982)

Grandchild(ren): Elizabeth Brown (2002); Phillip Brown (2004); Charlotte Brown (2004); Malcolm Brown (2007); Cooper Brown (2005); Hanna Rostlund (2011); Sylvia Rostlund (2013); Anders Rostlund (2017)

Education: Columbia University MD 1973

Career: Physician 1978-2009

Avocations: Nature. Performing Arts

College: Silliman

I look back fondly at my years at Yale. They were a welcome relief from Andover, where I had not had an enjoyable four years. Beginning in sophomore year I roomed with four other students in Silliman, where we had a premium room which we obtained by putting five people in a quad (much to the chagrin of Silliman seniors). It was attached to a large attic where we built three new rooms, and we were left with a large space which we used for parties. After Tom McNamee made advances toward a bank clerk, she retorted that she was old enough to be his mother. We immediately adopted the moniker “Mother” for our group.

At Yale I played on the squash team and was a member of Zeta Psi. I was the only freshman in organic chemistry, which in contrast to so many people, I really enjoyed (obviously I am a geek).

I proceeded on to Columbia Medical School where things were tumultuous in view of the Vietnam situation. We voted not to take exams at the end of the first year. It took me very little time to realize that I did not like life in the big city. But it was during those years that luck was with me. I met my wife, Patty, and we have been happily married now for 47 years.

We spent three years in Cooperstown, New York, during my internal medicine residency. It was a rather idyllic spot, but very cold. Then I was off to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for a fellowship in rheumatology. Two years later we moved to Bedford, New York, where I practiced for 10 years with the Katonah Medical Group. We delivered very high quality medical care, but the hours were long. Much to the horror of my parents, I took a year off to think about things. We decided to move, eventually ending up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where I set up a private practice. That went very well for 20 years. But medicine changed and become more a business with mounds of paperwork, and it was difficult to continue a solo practice. Electronic records were the final straw, and I retired in 2010. My colleagues refer to the years that we practiced as the “golden ones,” and I feel fortunate to have experienced them. As a rheumatologist I developed long-lasting relationships with my patients. Some of them were under my care for the full 20 years of my solo practice, and it was very rewarding to follow their lives.

Retirement may be the wrong word because I am busier than ever. I am a strong supporter of performing arts, and one of the main reasons we moved to Winston-Salem (The City of the Arts) was the UNC School of the Arts. It is the only state-supported conservatory in the country. There isn’t a day in the year without some sort of performance. I am on the boards of the Winston-Salem Symphony and Brevard Music Center in addition to the board of the North Carolina Nature Conservancy. If our government won’t fill the gaps, we are going to have to fill them.

Overall life has been very good for me. I couldn’t have found a better partner to spend it with than Patty. She is an artist and interior designer as well as a superb party planner. We have twin boys, age 41, both of whom went to Yale. One is a computer wizard with his own company, and the other is a physicist doing research for the US Department of Defense. Our daughter, age 35, surprisingly, chose to follow in my footsteps. She is now a pathologist and lives a mile from our house. All my children are married, and we currently have eight grandchildren aged 16 to five months. Being with them ranks as one of my greatest pleasures, and I pity those who do not have the experience. It is better than being on drugs.