Meet our Members | A Life Rich in Talent and Endurance
Monday, March 6, 2023
By Dr. Anu C. Narula



The Portrait of Elliott Brack
In our March Member spotlight, we recognize Elliott Brack, a member of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett. Elliott Brack celebrated 60 years of Rotary attendance across multiple Rotary clubs and districts this year. 

Learn more about Elliott Brack and his Rotary journey as we shine a spotlight on his dedication in the month of March.

 
 
“In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm; in the real world, all rests on perseverance,” affirmed Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.  After getting to know the life and contributions of Rotarian Elliott Brack from the Rotary Club of Gwinnett, the former President of Rotary Club of Jesup in Georgia, I do think that Mr. Brack has been an enduring inhabitant of both the world of ideas and actions.  I consider myself blessed to have the opportunity to write about his extraordinary life and his career that started with the highest order of service as an army officer stationed in Bad Nauheim and Giessen in Germany from 1958 to 1961. 

Mr. Brack joined Rotary in Jesup, GA on the last Thursday of January in 1963.  A testament to Mr. Brack’s reverence for Rotary inheres in the fact that he remembers the name of the first speaker of his first meeting, who was Judge Alexander Lawrence of the Superior Court of Chatham County.  Since then, Mr. Brack has crossed several milestones before reaching the milestone of 60 years of perfect attendance in Rotary.  It’s both remarkable and interesting that Mr. Brack has “made up” his attendance by attending meetings in places as far as removed, but as closely related by Rotary as Berlin in Germany, Snellville in GA, and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The most illustrious years of Mr. Brack’s career as a journalist have been associated with newspapers like the Wayne County Press, the Montgomery Monitor, the Gwinnett Daily News, and the ATL Journal-Constitution.  When things went digital in the publication world, Mr. Brack switched to the digital mode of publication and since his retirement in 2001, he has published an internet moderated community commentary called www.gwinnettforum.com.  Mr. Brack has published a digital news digest called Georgia Clips for 18 years now.  In 2018, he published a book called 366 Facts About Gwinnett, which he updated in 2022.

The versatile nature of Mr. Brack’s contributions to the world of letters, civic enterprise, and community service can be gauged from the fact that he didn’t have a desire to “take it easy” after retirement.  Rather, he manifested a desire to reinvent his eclectic talent by assuming roles in the Salvation Army and Metro Atlanta chapter of the American Red Cross.  Mr. Brack served as the Chairman and President of the Red and Black Publishing Company, an independent student daily newspaper at the University of Athens in GA.  Mr. Brack’s contributions in the academic world achieved eminence with his role as a member of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, representing Southern newspapers for 15 years.  Mr. Brack has been the founding Chairman of Senior Leadership and Leadership Gwinnett, and a former trustee of the Atlanta History Center and Georgia Press Association.  In 1994, Mr. Brack was named as the Citizen of the Year by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.

Given below are a few excerpts from my virtual interview with Mr. Brack:

Anu: What’s the single moment that stands out in your illustrious career as a journalist?

Mr. Brack: I have written more than 10,000 stories and editorials.  Singling out one is impossible!

Anu: What’s the driving force for your perfect attendance in Rotary?

Mr. Brack: It’s fun to make up at another club, as you extend your friendships that way.

Anu: What’s your message for the “New Generations” in Rotary?

Mr. Brack: Today, Rotary doesn’t place as much emphasis on attendance as they do trying to recruit new members.  The younger people … miss something by not making up meetings and extending their Rotary friendships.  I’ve made up in many parts of the world, and always felt welcome in those distant places. 

At the heart of every Rotarian’s life is an earnest desire to give back to the communities through community service and fundraising.  Mr. Brack has successfully chaired a $1.5 million fundraising drive for the YMCA in Peachtree Corners and a $4.2 million fundraising drive for a new Salvation Army facility in Lawrenceville.  It’s quite obvious that Mr. Brack’s talent and perseverance rests on the rock solid foundation of faith and family.  Mr. Brack is married to his wonderful wife Barbara and they live in Norcross.  They have 3 adult children and 2 granddaughters.  Mr. Brack has been a vestryman at 3 Episcopal churches and a delegate to the Diocese of Atlanta Councils from 1980 to 2010.  Based on his life rich in adventure and enterprise, it should be easy for us to fathom where and how his imagination and intellect get enriched.  Mr. Brack loves traveling all over the world and closer to home on the pristine beaches and majestic mountains of GA. 

I feel fortunate in joining all of you in congratulating Rotarian Brack on completing 60 years of perfect attendance in Rotary amidst a life so rich in versatile talent and extraordinary endurance that it reminds me of the following words of Wallis Simpson, “For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat.”  Amen.