Alan Anthony Holbrook

Alan Anthony Holbrook 07/29/1951 - 05/30/2025

Alan was born on July 29, 1951, in Los Angeles, California, and died May 30, 2025, in Santa Rosa, California, at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, before his seventy-fourth birthday. He had a host of physical ailments, any one of which could have been fatal given time, yet he didn't complain, never wanting to make his problems someone else's.

Alan lived his life on his terms and anyone not on board was swiftly shown the door. He was a Renaissance man with a degree in fine art, a license to practice law, an aptitude for paragliding, a talent for contra dancing (shout out to Bob Bulwa and all the other fellow dancers) and was a skilled guitar and banjo player.

Alan ran away from home at age fifteen. By the time he was eligible for the draft, he had moved to New Mexico and was living for a while in a Taos commune, traveling to Woodstock with the Hog Farm in 1969, to pass out free food to the community of revelers. After Woodstock, he had the opportunity to fly to India, where he met his guru, Prem Rawat (Maharaj Ji) and became a lifelong student of meditation under the master.

Alan later went back to school in his thirties, graduating from San Francisco State with a BA in fine art, with a focus on painting. He then attended UC Hastings for law school, passing the Bar Exam and becoming licensed in 1988, staying in the city to practice. After dabbling in firms, he moved to Santa Rosa to hang his shingle but found it difficult to break into the community. After a time, he bought a little house in Guerneville that was built in 1919, across from the Russian River, and practiced out of his home.

By 2017, he had stopped practicing law and was taking on less stressful work driving trucks. He especially enjoyed the water trucks he would drive to deliver water to the local wineries in Sonoma County. He did not enjoy the long-haul big rig style of trucking, though he did it for a while.

Alan was a complicated man with a brilliant mind, a biting sense of humor and an incredible amount of talent. His presence will be sorely missed. Alan's supporters remained loyal; his detractors likely never crossed his mind - he certainly never brought them up.

Alan is survived by his sisters, Betsy Birdsall and Shannon Denton, his oldest and dearest friend, Buddy Fleitz, his fellow dancers, gliders and the women he loved. Please think of him, if you will, whenever you find yourself in Jenner at Goat Rock State Beach or Bodega Bay. You'll meet him there.