2008.10.09
Shining star was dimmed too soon
This is not the column I had hoped to write about Beth Brown.
And it certainly isn't the one her family, friends and admirers wanted to read.
Brown, whose childhood fascination with space exploration led to her career as a NASA astrophysicist, died Sunday. Preliminary reports indicate the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot affecting the lungs.
"I'm trying to make sense of it. Not Beth," said Scott Terry-Cabbler, who graduated with her in 1987 from William Fleming High School in Roanoke. Brown was the class valedictorian.
Her brother, Larry, said, "The thing about her, she was very unassuming. She never carried herself as if, 'I'm an astronomer.' It was more about how she loved to share what she did."
Periodically, I would run into Larry Brown about town. I'd always say (beg?): "When your sister comes home, let me know. I'd love to interview her." We never connected. As a journalist, that was my loss.
Her sudden death at the young age of 39? Our loss.
Brown was one of those people who area teachers can point to with pride. She was proof of the timeworn advice that anyone can be anything they want to be if they set a goal and strive for it.
She graduated in 1991 with a degree in astrophysics from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She was the first black woman to receive a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Michigan, and Roanoke Times astronomy columnist John Goss called her "an inspiration for achievement for people of all races."
During a speech more than three years ago, I cited Brown as one of Roanoke's superstars. But her star shined far beyond here.
Internet condolences poured in from all over the country -- Colorado, North Carolina, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Michigan, New York, Georgia, Washington, Texas, Alabama.
In Roanoke, Fleming classmate and Roanoke Times Advertising Operations Manager Tracy Brown remembered Beth Brown as "extremely sweet" and unpretentious.
"I remember about two years ago, when we started planning our high school reunion," said Tracy Brown, no relation. "She was so excited and willing to do anything to help.
"You would have never known that she was Dr. Beth A. Brown working for NASA, changing the world."
Larry Brown, 36, wasn't surprised by his older sister's career path.
"Our childhood was creative," he said. "She was a huge reader ... science fiction novels, novels in general. We always had that curiosity about what was out there." She was a huge Star Trek fan.
Larry Brown followed his sister to Howard University, arriving her senior year.
"For a while, I was known as Beth's brother," said the journalism graduate. "She was just excelling so well. She would be taking classes that I couldn't even pronounce."
At NASA in Greenbelt, Md., Brown's expertise was data acquisition and research. Occasionally, she was tapped to appear on CNN and MSNBC because of her ability to explain space phenomena in ways the masses could understand.
Recently, NASA named her assistant director for science communications and higher education.
Larry Brown said his sister was very active at her church, including the singles and dance ministries and usher board.
He said his sister hadn't been ill, and her healthy lifestyle made her sudden death all the more shocking.
According to the account Beth Brown's friends shared with her brother and parents, Robert and Frances:
Beth Brown had called them earlier Sunday saying she didn't feel well. She felt progressively worse, and a couple of friends stopped by to check on her. She grew weak, and emergency crews were called to the house.
At the same time, between 2 and 2:30 p.m., they called Brown's family in Roanoke. Larry Brown and his parents began preparing to go to Maryland to be with Beth Brown. Two hours later -- about 4 p.m. -- they received the call that she was dead.
The untimely death is difficult, but Larry Brown said the family has been buoyed by the outpouring of so many people who knew Beth.
Katherine Hix, a member of the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society, e-mailed me Wednesday to say she had met Brown one time and asked her to autograph a Milky Way galaxy poster.
"I believe she signed it 'Live Long and Prosper, Beth Brown,' " Hix wrote.
"It's so sad that she did not get to live long herself."
