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SOLITARY MAN
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the past, the damages wreaked by an oil slick. (In 1979, 25,000 gallons of #6 oil would coat 10 miles of New Hampshire’s lim- ited coastline.) The well-prepared exercise would be successful. The placement and manipulation of the boom and its consequent withdrawal and storage were accomplished in a timely, acci- dent-free manner.
The response exercise was but one event in the story of how Carroll Brown spent years cultivating NH’s awareness of and preparedness for a coast- line environmental tragedy. He envisioned and formed the Portsmouth Oil Spill Response Workgroup and Co-Chaired the Maine/New Hampshire Area Committee. In addition, he had represented NHDES on numer- ous hazardous material response committees and had presented many workshops on all aspects of water sampling, analysis, and re- mediation. Carroll’s contribution to environmental stewardship has been recognized widely; that
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April 2023
recognition includes awards pre- sented by the NHDES, the Gulf of Maine Council and a Merito- rious Public Service Award pre-
sented by the U.S. Coast Guard. Carroll’s concern for the natu- ral environment of New Hamp- shire literally flows from his love
of its lakes,
rivers, and waterways in
general. One might speculate that the love grew as he worked during his summer breaks from Bridgewater State College (MA) as a counselor on Mayhew Island in Newfound Lake, mentoring and bearing witness to the joy of “underprivileged” boys as they plunged into the lake’s pristine waters. There must have been other times when Carroll, possi- bly in solitude, was enthralled by the view looking north from the island across the lake’s blue water to the mountains of Hebron and beyond.
Our story’s subject was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, on November 9, 1955. His early childhood was lived in Hamp- ton Beach, New Hampshire. He is the namesake of his fa- ther, Carroll (Brownie) Brown,
who worked at Western Electric. Mom (Barbara), a graduate of Plymouth State, was a teacher (and at times would supplement her income working at the Bristol Diner). Carroll was thirty-seven when his mother died at age 68 in 1993. His Dad remarried sev- eral years after Barbara’s death to Lorraine Brown. Carroll, Jr. has always felt fortunate to have had “two good moms” and an in- spirational father. His years lead- ing to adulthood were filled with many of his “faces.” He was (and
is) a younger brother to sister Pa- mela. He was a sojourner, mov- ing with the family to England, Germany, New Jersey, and Mas- sachusetts and finally settling in Bristol in 1973. By eighth grade, he had been in eight different schools, but the family settled down in Townsend, Massachu- setts, for his high school years. Then, he entered Bridgewater State College and would earn a degree of Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in Chemistry. Carroll’s work ex-
perience during these years was eclectic. He was a hardware store clerk, motorcycle mechanic, gas station attendant, IPC press line worker, house painter, and the camp counselor mentioned ear- lier. During these years, Carroll was also busy exploring the gui- tar. This would come in handy in the decade of the 80s.
Carroll married in 1978. By 1980 the couple, having quit their full-time work (Carroll had been the operator of the Bristol Treatment Plant), was on the road performing popular music of the day. With a growing family (a son, Chris, had arrived), sup- plemental income was needed. Carroll worked part-time as a school bus driver and school lunch delivery driver. During this period, Carroll managed to find time to be a Bristol firefighter. The career in show business was dramatically changed in 1989 as the couple parted ways, and Carroll took a full-time position with NHDES. Both the “face” of the musician and the “face” of the environmentalist have survived. Although retired from NHDES, Carroll continues to