Pubdate: Wed, 18 Mar 2009
Source: Revelstoke Times Review (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Black Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/EZOeBibj
Website: http://drugsense.org/url/ujMTHNZu
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2139
Author: Brandon Adams
Cited: NSMB Forum: http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=120416

SAM BROWN REMEMBERED AS 'INSPIRING' YOUNG MAN

Almost two weeks ago, Lou Brown's son, Sam, died in a Spokane jail.
Samuel Jackson Lindsay-Brown was arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration agents after flying a helicopter loaded with about 150
kilograms of marijuana from Malakwa to a remote area south of the
U.S.-Canada border and north of Spokane.

"He was a powerful force in the community and inspired a lot of kids,
but in the end he got tied up with the wrong people," said Lou Brown
of his son. "Somebody basically asked him to run stuff across the
border, put him on a mission ... it was a sting, he'd walked right
into it."

While Sam Brown hadn't completed his helicopter license, his father
said he was close to completing his certification in Vancouver.

"He'd done three-quarters of his helicopter license," said Lou Brown,
who said he too is licensed to fly. "He was a natural ... he had super
balance .. I've never seen anyone fly like that."

"We heard that he was in jail one minute and the next, he died," said
a soft-spoken Lou Brown, who indicated he has trouble understanding
how his son ended up dead while in a 'suicide-proof' jail cell.

"[The jailers,] they're supposed to be responsible for your
life."

As for the investigation, Lou Brown shied away from referring to his
son's death as a conspiracy, but did say that what happened to Sam in
his last hours remains 'inconclusive'.

"[The investigation] is very inconclusive ... it's inconclusive at
this point on how he died," said Brown, who indicated that there are
still other investigations which are ongoing.

"Their autopsy is pretty suspect," said Lou Brown in a later
interview. "Everybody is speculating that it has more twists and turns
than anybody knows about."

While the RCMP remain largely quiet on the subject, much speculation
has surrounded Sam Brown's involvement with Colin Martin, who
originally reported the helicopter stolen. The RCMP have confirmed
that Martin, who is employed by Gorge Timber Corp., the company which
owned the Bell 206 helicopter, does have a criminal record involving
marijuana trafficking.

A decade-old transcript from the CBC's the Fifth Estate mentions a
then 28-year-old Martin as a marijuana supplier involved in
cross-border smuggling. Reports from Sicamous indicate an increased
helicopter presence in the area, and the RCMP have confirmed they are
conducting an investigations into the Malakwa helicopter theft.

Yet, Lou Brown said he doesn't want his son's legacy to be defined by
his last, fateful decisions. Instead, Lou Brown, along with scores of
mountain bikers and extreme sports enthusiasts, are remembering
'Sammy' for his 'inspiring' athletic abilities and
personality.

"[At a young age] he was crazy about bikes, wheels, anything that
turned. He learned to ride a bike before his older sister ... He could
spoke his own wheels by the time he was ten," said Lou Brown. "Sammy
was always into mountain biking ... he would get hair-brained schemes
and do 25-foot drops and all kinds of crazy stuff. He kept his old man
up at night."

Sam Brown gained a fair amount of fame among mountain bikers for his
aggressive riding and trail-building, and for a large wooden 'hamster
wheel' dubbed the Disconstructed Wheel in which he would ride his
bike-a wheel featured in the mountain biking film New World Disorder
3. Of the wheel, Lou Brown says, "It was his grad present-I welded
that up."

Sam, his father said, "was well loved and lived on the edge ... he
inspired a lot of people," and a brief look at several prominent
mountain biking forums supports this. Tribute threads on on-line
message boards like www.pinkbike.com and North Shore Mountain Biking's
www.nsmb.com stretch for pages.

- -"It's a hard story to believe knowing Sam. He had everything going
for him right now, still a hard story to believe he made those
decision on his own. He is a smart kid, who loved life and many people
around him. He will be missed greatly by many," wrote
kootenay_rider.

- -"Sam, your life has touched us all, you will be remembered as one who
pushed the sport and touched our lives," wrote Kinrade.

- -"Our brief encounter was met with gracious character from someone who
will be missed by the entire biking community," wrote
zealousdescent.

- -"He created unique memories for people that had never even met him
and I feel lucky to have gotten to ride trails with him," wrote
dirtylittletour.

Despite Sam Brown's passing, his father did say that Sam's aggressive
mountain biking lives on with his youngest sister, Casey, who, Lou
said, rides with her brother's 'inspiring' style and abilities.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin