Timothy Tuttle Brown
July 24, 1938-September 14, 1989
Photo courtesy "Ice Skate" magazine
Born in Loup City, Nebraska, Tim Brown got his start in skating at the Silver Blades Skating Club of Spokane. After winning the U.S. novice and junior men's titles in 1952 and 1954, Tim earned a trio of medals at the 1957 World, North American and World Championships. He went on to win another five medals at the U.S. Championships (in singles and ice dancing with Susan Sebo) and a silver medal at the 1959 North American Championships. He medalled at the 1958 and 1959 World Championships and placed fifth at the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley. Throughout his entire career, Tim was accurately labelled as an intellectual and a specialist in school figures. He actually led after the figures at both the 1958 and 1959 World Championships. At the 1961 World Championships, a rheumatic fever, chest pains from a pre-existing heart condition coupled with the altitude in Colorado Springs and limited training caught up with him. In the locker room, he struggled to breathe and fainted. Luckily, an ambulance was parked outside the arena. Medical staff administered oxygen and he was revived. He finished third but skipped the awards ceremony. Doctors advised him not to risk the stresses of physical exertion and travel, and he left Colorado Springs without advising the USFSA as to his plans with regards to the North American and World Championships. Ultimately, Tim announced that he wouldn't attend either event due to illness and the USFSA named Douglas Ramsay as his replacement. Tim's withdrawal saved his life, as Ramsay was of course among those who perished on Sabena Flight 548. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, he got his masters and attended medical school. He later turned to coaching and was involved in the founding of the Canada Ice Dance Theatre. He passed away at the age of fifty-one on September 14, 1989 in San Francisco.
Ron Vincent's memories of Tim: "Tim was, in some ways, responsible for my bringing Frank Nowosad to Victoria to coach. Meeting Frank for the first time in Edmonton, I remarked that I had seen a narrative competitive skating program at the Canadian Championships in London (in about 1972), and that it may have been a first. Frank immediately responded with the name of the skater, Karen [Grobba] and the choreographer, Tim Brown... A few years later when Tim joined us for the second workshop in Victoria, it was with full beard and long hair in protest of the Vietnam War; he was definitely counter-culture and anti-establishment (this included anti-ballet, which at times made co-existence difficult). He proved to be an exceptional choreographer. Some of his works composed in Victoria drew upon revolutionary heroes such as Federico Garcia Lorca upon whose poems he choreographed 'Night of the Seven Moons', and most had a literary point of departure. Tim and Clara Hare, an actor and adjudicator, perhaps because of their mutual interest in literature and its close ally, drama, had a particular affinity for working together."
*Source for inclusion: "Skating's Spectre", Michael Clarkson, The Calgary Herald, December 13, 1992
