Edward G. Brown

1936 - 2020

August 19, 1936 - October 28, 2020 Edward G. Brown, our dearly devoted husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, and lifelong friend, has left us. Ed was an absolute Force of Nature. Nobody who met Ed ever forgot him. He lived life to the fullest. From a humble background in a tough section of the East Bronx, he lived the American dream over and over again. Although he lost the sight in his right eye from a childhood accident, nothing stopped him. At 6'-2" and extremely handsome, when Ed walked into a room, heads always turned. He was a great athlete, including being the running back on his high school football team, a great polo player, and an avid owner and rider of motorcycles.After college, he became an entrepreneur and succeeded in the oil and gas business, and then heavy equipment leasing. Ed then formed the third largest business management firm in the U.S., Osborne Brown. As a business and personal relationship manager, Ed handled the business affairs of physicians and entertainers, including Roy Rogers, Pat Boone, and Andy Williams. He did so well that he retired to Hawaii and lived the dream.At 24, he was offered the presidency of the Diner's Club, but he turned it down because he avoided bureaucracies, and he knew that life had bigger things in store for him.Then, Ed actually discovered Don Ho at Don's mother's club in Hawaii. He came out of retirement to fully manage the career and finances of Don, who became the most famous and iconic Hawaiian entertainer, who had also achieved international fame. He formed independent music companies and then with Don Ho, owned many venues in Hawaii. Additionally, he produced two Don Ho specials for the Singer Company on NBC.Ed also co-wrote and produced the #1 hit, "Pink Shoelaces," which, to this day, is played in contemporary movies and TV shows. He also wrote two musicals, "Oh Atlantis" and "Mephistopheles." He also envisioned and created a futuristic real estate development outside of Atlanta.Ed was also a leading management consultant for many Fortune 500 and mid-size companies, including Prudential and Kaiser Steel. Thereafter, Ed and Martin L. Cohen, M.D. created the Cohen Brown Management Group, the Cohen Brown Picture Company, and Breakthrough PerformanceTech. These successful and highly profitable companies spanned the last 42 years of Ed's life. Cohen Brown is the most effective sales, service, leadership, management, and coaching training and consulting firm in financial services and banking, and helped to revolutionize the industry. Cohen Brown programs have been implemented in over 50 countries, and Ed has personally been hosted by Heads of State in the Middle East. Not only did Ed help build Cohen Brown, but he was a prolific author who also wrote and performed many programs himself, including Live Outbound Calling Labs, Advanced Proactive Teleconsulting, Structured Time & Workflow Management, and his breakthrough OneBankism Process.He also wrote the book, "The Time Bandit Solution: Recovering Stolen Time You Never Knew You Had" that won the Axiom Business Book award, and numerous industry articles.Ed was a leading sales, marketing, and culture-change expert; a strategist, trainer, and lecturer for the world's largest and most successful financial institutions. He also advised and consulted with trust, private banking, and wealth management clients.Ed was also a world-class negotiator who made impossible deals, possible. Overnight he learned about back office processing and helped turn around Merrill Lynch's night processing department. He was also a co-founder of Mercantile National Bank, Los Angeles.Ed balanced his fabulous success with his loving relationship with his true soulmate, his wife, Shari Brown, and their children, Neda Bayat and Derek Brown. And, Ed absolutely adored and cherished his older sister, Rhoda Irwin. Ed never forgot his friends from the Bronx, or from business, or those he met worldwide. Whenever they were in need, he was always there for them. He loved to help people build their dreams and achieve them.Ed was an eternal optimist and had a great sense of humor, along with his combined high IQ and an astounding EQ. He was incredibly generous, selfless, and legendary in his tipping. Ed treated everybody equally and with respect regardless of their culture, ethnic background, sex or sexuality.Ed found religion again and was Bar Mitzvah'd in Israel in his late 50s. He lived in and designed a fabulous home in Beverly Hills and an estate in Malibu that rivaled the best hotels on the Amalfi coast. And his décor always included the feeling of his beloved Hawaii. Ed threw fabulous parties and had world-class collections, including cars, watches, canes, and exotic animals, birds and fish, which he absolutely loved…along with his cherished dogs. Ed was able to balance elegant attire with outfits that equaled the best in hip-hop before it was fashionable.This included fabulous jewelry, incredible watches and even fur coats, but no one scoffed.Ed fully enjoyed life, went on fabulous international vacations, and loved and owned speed boats and yachts. He loved his book club, classical concerts and music of every generation. Ed will be missed but his spirit remains in the hearts and souls of his beloved family, and everyone who had the good fortune of knowing him.