NORTHPORT — Allen “Mike” Brown, an author and a longtime writer and editor for The Republican Journal of Belfast who wrote a monthly column for National Fisherman magazine for nearly 50 years, died unexpectedly on Sunday. He was 81.

Mr. Brown was remembered by his family on Tuesday as a compassionate, kind and loving guy who could also be stubborn, antagonistic and obstinate.

His daughter Beth Fournier of South Portland compared her father Tuesday to Andy Rooney, the television writer most notable for “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney” on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Fournier said she walked through her father’s office the day after he died. She described a man who was as passionate about his work as he was about living on Saturday Cove on Penobscot Bay.

“Think Andy Rooney,” she said, comparing their personalities and their offices. “(He) has piles of new books, old books and reference books. There were papers and newspapers stacked up high. Usually, his chocolate Lab was lying at his feet. He spent a lot of time in there.”

Mr. Brown began his writing career with a letter to the editor in what was then Maine Coast Fisherman, in 1962. The editors hired him to write a monthly column about life on Saturday Cove. His last column for what is now National Fisherman will appear in November’s issue. He was the magazine’s longest-running columnist.

Michael Crowley, the boat and gear editor for National Fisherman, was shocked and saddened to learn of Mr. Brown’s passing.

He said Tuesday that Mr. Brown hired him to work at The Republican Journal. Crowley said Mr. Brown’s columns showcased life on the cove in a fun and whimsical way.

“Mike had a tremendous way with words,” Crowley said. “He liked writing about the everyday person and about politics. He was very good at the way he described people and things. He had a real feel for the common guy.”

Mr. Brown was a writer and editor at The Republican Journal and the Camden Herald for many years. During that time, he also wrote two books, “Saturday Cove” and “The Great Lobster Chase.”

For the past 20 years or so, he worked as an independent columnist covering State House politics. His daughter said he loved covering the State House, meeting new legislators and finding out what “made them tick.”

He was married to Mary Brown. The couple raised three children. His daughter Sue Brown of Northport remembered the years she went lobstering, fishing and clamming with her father.

“He gave me an appreciation for being out on the water,” Sue Brown said. “I’ll miss his heart. He had a huge heart. If you ever needed him, he was there.”

Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:

mcreamer@pressherald.com

 

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