Educator. Coach. Pastor. Father and grandfather. Prison evangelist. Community servant. The Rev. Abe Brown is one of Tampa's last surviving icons from the days before people of color had rights. Some of his peers were more vocal in their leadership — the late Rev. Leon Lowry and Bob Gilder, to name two. Brown, meanwhile, quietly influenced thousands of lives and change in this community. It is only fitting that his biblical name means "father of many nations." "He's the property of history. Our history," says Tampa's poet laureate, James Tokley. "He is the coach of men, of the community and of the hopeless." At the end of the year, Brown, now 80, retires from one job so he can plunge into another. Although he has certainly earned the right to enjoy some time off, that's just not his nature. Because wherever there's work that needs to be done, there is Abe Brown. ...more

December 23, 2007

Coach wasn't putting up with anything from Al Barnes. The teenager knew that when he saw Abe Brown on the porch, talking to his mama. ...more

December 23, 2007