Jules André-Brown

With great sadness, we have said goodbye to an incredible friend and mentor, Raj Sen.  He passed away by the side of his wife Angela and his family will be announcing details of a service in the weeks to follow. 

I was immensely lucky to have Raj as a mentor in many beginnings in my life. I was fortunate to know him as a young musician, as a new parent, and storyteller and scholar.   I greatly admired Raj's ability to be kind and compassionate.

To say goodbye to Raj is hard. He has meant a lot to me.  He championed me, believed in me, guide and has been real with me and many others all while being gracious and compassionate. I am under no illusions about how hard and chaotic it will be without Raj.  When I said goodbye to him last night in a phone held up to his ear, I knew that he would be all around us.

I will remember Raj's kindness.   His absolute grace and sense of diplomacy is something I have long tried to emulate over the last twenty years.

I will remember his poetic view of the world.  Raj had a tremendous gift for blending honesty and compassion and seeing the deeper territory of our world.  Raj could always help guide you to the truth and help you be the truth. 

I will remember his graceful sense of humour.   Raj shared a spirit with his late brother Serge, and both and gift for seeing the comedy of life with a sophisticated and intelligent approach to life.  To see the two of them exchange their wit was to watch to flames dance, and tonight I know the heavens will be set ablaze with their laughter. 

I will never forget Raj's mentorship, support and belief in me.  Raj's gifts have helped me find the confidence to become more of myself.   Raj proved this through cycles of helping me to be a braver artist, leader, scholar, brother, father, and friend.  I was fortunate to let Raj know before he left that today, the research he helped guide and design has helped youth become stronger leaders.  I know those cycles will go on, and I'm grateful to him for his kindness. I am grateful for the love, stories, and joy his family shared with me. I cherish how his family and mine have shared stories and been together.