It is with deep grief that I inform you that our beloved Mullah, Don Brown, has tasted his last earthly cup.

He passed quietly at 10:55am today in Hayward, surrounded by friends and members of our family.

Don created and built the Teahouse of the Mullah Nasrudin’s Donkey, and he became ‘the Mullah’ to many of us, seeing to our earthly and spiritual needs and offering his inimitable guidance on the smooth roads and the rough.  He was more than a fixture during the long run of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and the Dickens Christmas Fair – he was an elder in our far-reaching community and the quiet provider of a milieu in which many of our number found themselves.  Don gave us all a stage – actually the performance stage was perhaps the smaller of the stages – on which to discover and become ourselves, and it was always with generosity and candor that he greeted each of us.

Don’s life was music and his friends and books and movies, and he splashed about with a sense of fun that adults often lose.  He was a founding member of the Golden Toad Music and Dance Camp, and he easily made friendships that lasted his entire lifetime – and, many feel, beyond.  At the end, scores of his friends showed up to share time with him or to be caregivers, and hundreds more sent their love and good wishes.  Don was a lucky man, to have known how well and how much he was loved during his lifetime.

As his dear friend said, “The dogs keep barking, but Don’s caravan has moved on.  (We never close.)”

A memorial service is planned, and we will keep you informed of further developments.

Sincerely,

Kevin Patterson