My name is Dr. Michael D. Brown, “The Blogger Formerly Known as Mike the Eyeguy” (2005-2012; 2020-present).
I am a retired optometrist and freelance writer in Huntsville, Alabama. I have focused on medical journalism, narrative medicine, and creative nonfiction, especially untold and under-told stories. In 2008, I served a one-year stint as a community columnist at the Huntsville Times (Alabama) and for many years was a regular writer and editorial board member for the professional trade journal, Optometry Times.
For 7 years (a very long blog life), I wrote about “everything under the sun” on Ocular Fusion, including religion, faith, Civil Rights, Churches of Christ inside baseball, liturgy (and my growing love for it and eventual confirmation in the Episcopal Church), history, sex (yes, I went there), politics, sports (lots of soccer, Duke basketball, and Bama football), family, medicine, eye care, music, movies, and culture (especially the deep fried, Southern variety).
You name it, there’s probably a post on it. For several years they were archived and out of public view. While some posts and their tone deafness now make be cringe, at the beginning of 2022 I republished all of them. At this point in my life, I have nothing to hide. Hopefully, my embarrassing early takes on some matters will serve as markers of my personal growth.
The most impactful story I have written to date was a hidden tale from the civil rights era of a large group of students and faculty at my undergraduate alma mater Harding University who fought for desegregation on what was then an all-white campus during the height of The Little Rock Nine events of 1957. The story was published in the Arkansas Times here and here (my author’s note–read this last!), and eventually, teamed with another significant world event, helped lead Harding to apologize for its racist policies of the past and to reconcile with its African American alumni.
Now that I am retired from federal service and clinical practice, I have the time and bandwidth to write some new stories as well. I absolutely love watches, clocks, and all things time-related (horology), and I’m currently doing some freelance writing and reviews related to that passion and am open to doing more.
email: idoc61@gmail.com