Obituary of Edward Michael Brown

January 2, 2020

Edward Michael Brown, 77, of Westport MA and New York City passed away unexpectedly in the early morning hours of January 2, 2020 of severe damage to his heart.


Ed was born in 1942 in Chicago to Sam and Nancy Brown (nee Kirsch). He attended the University of Chicago, Loyola Medical School and did his residency at Yale University where he met his wife of 47 years, Judith Wolin.


The couple settled in Clinton, CT where they remodeled their first home while Ed continued to work in New Haven. Not long after, they moved to Providence, RI where he worked at Butler hospital as a psychiatrist. He opened a private practice in the basement of their home in Fox Point. After leaving Butler Hospital, he continued to work in private practice as well as begin a decades long commitment to treating severely mentally ill patients at the East Bay Mental Health Center and Riverwood Mental Health Center, now known as Thrive Behavioral Health. He also taught biomedical ethics and participated in the training of family practice doctors in the Brown University Medical School. After their two daughters were out of the house, he continued to work part time with these important organizations even while commuting to their new home in New York. He retired at the age of 70 and focussed full time on his lifelong passion for research into the history of psychiatry. Over the course of his adult life he worked steadily backward in time from his early research into railroad spine and shell shock to his most recent passion for 16th century diagnoses of scurvy and passing through every possible point in between. Much of this research resulted in publications in journals of the history of medicine and psychiatry.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edward_Brown6

https://sites.google.com/site/psychiatryfootnotes/Introduction


He will be missed deeply for his wisdom, gentle heart, probing mind, dry wit, and keen photographic eye.

https://www.photo.net/7325014#//Sort-Newest/All-Categories/All-Time/Page-1


He is survived by his wife, daughters Jessica and Susanna, brother Rick, and countless others whose lives he touched.


He was very adamant that he did not want his passing marked by ceremony, so his family will be hosting an open house on Sunday, January 5th at their Manhattan residence, and will later host an informal memorial in Westport MA.



Donations in his memory in lieu of flowers or cards would be welcome. A few of his favorites included the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the League of Women Voters, the Westport Land Conservation Trust and the Riverside Park Conservancy.