Dean Brown's Medical Battle

Our very dear and beloved friend and colleague, Dean Brown, has a very aggressive form of cancer, and needs all the help and support we can give him. The particular type and source of the cancer remains a mystery after more than a month of testing. Dean was forced to check in to the hospital on October 3rd and remains there still while the medical staff tries to figure it out. This particular cancer, or cancers, is unbelievably painful as well as debilitating so Dean is on some pretty heavy sedation. The doctors have begun a sort of general immunotherapy to try to do something while they continue to diagnose it.

It goes without saying that for ANYONE diagnosed with something like this here in America, the financial devastation can and is rapidly does become catastrophic. Dean is unable to work and there are medical co-pays, transportation bills, all the sides of this that Medicare doesn’t cover, quite probably travel and fees to specialists, just to name a few. Life keeps going right along with all the usual expenses on top of all the towering medical bills, but now with no income to pay for them. Any of his musician friends can relate to the way that a diagnosis like this would absolutely up-end our lives.

ANYONE who knows Dean knows the very pure joy of being his friend and colleague. Eric and George have worked with Dean for several decades now and shared countless laughs and hundreds, if not thousands of gigs playing with his musical genius and unbeatable energy onstage. After decades of tours, there is literally an army of his fellow musicians who just love the idea of being on the road with him. As we say, when you hire Dean, you don’t hire him because you want a guitarist on your project. You hire him because you want DEAN on your project. And you want him on there not just for his formidable musicianship but for the hang, for the laughter, the wisdom, the love, the perspectives, and let’s be honest, the little touch of pugnacity.

Dean is fighting the fight of his life in the hospital at this time, more than 3 weeks now, and getting ready for what looks like a long effort with chemotherapy and radiation. He needs every last bit of help we can send him and his incredible wife of 40 years, Ruth, who’s spending every day at the hospital with him. We’ve started this GoFundMe as a way of supporting a very long-time gift of a friend. Please donate anything you can, and please leave a message of support for Dean and Ruth. Thank you very much!

Eric Marienthal and George Whitty