BB
BB
exc-5fe8fffdba5cdf3765ac0df3
One of my dearest friends … a true mentor of mine, died this afternoon. A kinder more elegant man I never knew. I’m picturing him in my mind at this very moment. And I’m reposting my blog post from July 2018 honoring him. Expressing how much he meant to me? This picture was taken outside Bone’s restaurant here in Buckhead. In front of a vintage, station wagon owned by a friend. So appropriate …
“Vintage” … “Unique” Two words that describe BB best. How I / we will always remember him, and my immense love for him…
God speed, dear friend, well done.
I met him on an airplane in 1989 traveling to an industry convention. “Hi, I’m BB Brown. Where’d you get those glasses?” (They were metal… horn rim. So like BB to notice.)“Where’re ya from?” (BB is always more interested in you than trying to be interesting himself). Turned out we were in both in the life insurance business. We compared notes … acquaintances. Shared a warm exchange.
As we deplaned. “Great talkin’ to you, Bob. I’m going to go get a pair of those glasses. Thank you.” I thought to myself, “What a pro, such a gracious guy” I lived in Hartford CT. BB in Atlanta. Nice chat, but probably wouldn’t see him again. Wrong. Six months later I moved my family to Atlanta to revive a struggling business there.
That guy BB … I thought. Once you meet him he’s hard to forget. I think I’ll reach out to him. I did. But uh oh! I was new to town. Sent there to build a struggling business. BB was going to my primary competitor! And a formidable one at that. But I decided to look him up anyway. When I found him, he was just as warm as I’d remembered him. And not surprisingly there was a modest, professional distance between us. After all we would be trying to do business with a lot of the same people. He turned out to be a very tough competitor. My toughest.
I will never forget BB telling me about the time he went to his local pharmacy and asked the druggist to sell him 5,000 aspirin. The stunned druggist did just that. You see, one of BB’s greatest strengths is his ingenuity. He divided all the aspirin into two pill packets and sent each to his current and potential clients with this message. The next time you run into a business problem that gives you a bad headache? Don’t take these … just call me!
Brilliant.
Fast forward. BB got some of the highest quality business in Atlanta. So did I. Turned out there was more than enough for both of us. He eventually retired. I moved on to become a consultant. Today at his age 91, me at 73, we have lunch once a month or so.
But let me get to my main point here. BB told me once. “Bob if you use the word ‘unique’ … understand you’re describing something distinctive. Something’s that simply one of a kind. Unlike anything else.” At the time I thought, “I’m sitting in front of someone who is unique… simply one of a kind.
You see … BB is very accomplished. I know that. But he never feels compelled to tell me so or how much. His accomplishments are legendary in Atlanta. BB’s humble. BB is a wonderful listener. An historian … a great story teller. BB always sees, looks for the best in someone. And that gaze of his? The same one he first gave me thirty years ago on the plane ride. Projects a wisdom, integrity and compassion not found often. Just a few of the things that make BB Brown one of a kind … unique. I am proud to call him my friend. And as for that professional distance? … gone.
Lunch in a few weeks. Oh … and today? If you run into BB? Take a look at those beautiful horn rim glasses.
1 Comment
My wife and I have lived up in Big Canoe for over 20 years, but for 16 of those years, I was working 3-4 days a week out of our condo in Buckhead. Therefore I’ve now been out of the Atlanta insurance scene for almost 5 years and Al Robertson made me aware of BB’s passing.
Anyone who knew BB loved and admired him and if you were lucky enough, a little of his wisdom and creativity rubbed off on you.
Bob (Brickely), I do have to make one slight correction to your beautiful piece about BB and his ordering 5,000 aspirins as a creative ‘broker mailing piece’. BB and I were not only good friends, but we were also friendly competitors since by virtue of my brokerage firm – Broker’s Resource Center – and his Prudential Brokerage agency – we were both going after the same high profile brokers and financial planners, especially with difficult to place cases.
So when I received a copy of the mailing piece that BB sent out with a package of “Alka Seltzer” included to help you take the headache out of placing difficult cases, I sent BB a ‘mocked up’ piece which I never actually sent out to brokers. It said something along the lines:
“Some people believe that to place those tough underwriting cases, all you have to
do is take a couple Alka Seltzer, and the problem will magically be solved. We at Broker’s Resource Center believe that the real key to solving those problems lies with finding ways to make the whole process run more smoothly. I attached a package of Ex-Lax.”
As only BB would do, he called me up and asked if he could pay for the mailing.
One day BB approached me about an idea he had to form an Estate Planning Study Group and so after placing a call to a number of top financial professionals we both knew (i.e. insurance agents, attorneys, CPA’s, Wealth Managers, Trust Officers, and Financial Planners), we formed The Buckhead Study Group that met for over a 15 year period.
As Bob Brickley, said, BB epitomized the word ‘unique’. There never will be another one like him and once again, if you were lucky enough to have known him, you’re a better person today for having had that privilege.
Bob Littell
chiefnetweaver@gmail.com