Patrick Meadows and Stephanie Shepard Memorial Site
It was inevitable, thought we didn’t know it at the time, that we should meet Bulent. Mari and I flew from Izmir to Ankara where we spent the night. Then the next day by bus to Adana. Sounds like a simple statement, but it was not so simple. The two-propeller plane took off from what (more)
Thursday I am pointlessly staring at my tea, now only a stain at the bottom of the mug. So I glance at my reflection in the glass door of the dish cupboard opposite the table where I am sitting already quite a while. Reflected is the window behind me, through which I see that the (more)
The joy had gone out of her life ten years ago already. Why pretend? Her friends tried to cheer her up, but stubbornly she held onto her empty life and empty house and empty bed. In fact she came to resent the happiness of others. Only the firmest of old acquaintances persisted, inviting her twice (more)
In this excerpt, set in Tampa in the early 1970s, Patrick describes how he first learned of Dr. Weightnovel, which turned into a writing project he worked on for the rest of his life, but never finished. I’ve made only minor edits, primarily fixing typos and punctuation. Caution to the reader: this story includes a (more)
Create a montage of those events that most often recur in memory. Mari got a a job teaching elementary art in Centereach. We found a cottage in Lake Ronkokoma to rent. Since she was teaching under the name on her teaching certificate, we lived under that name – last name Irvin. Her sister Nancy and (more)
A couple of loose pages I found that describes Patrick and Mari’s arrival in Germany. This would have probably been 1962 or ’63 I think. I found this in the folder titled Bohemians of the Tramatura although the story has nothing to do with Spain. PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
Here’s a sketch about growing up in West Virginia, found in the Bohemians of the Tramatura folder. Patrick mentions his brother Jack, who had a combination safe at the age of 11. PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
Another story, incomplete, from more loose pages, torn from a spiral notebook, found in the Bohemians of the Tramantura folder. PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
A short e-mail message from Patrick to us kids, dated 23 Dec 2014: Hello All, Don’t know why, maybe because recently I am in very retro-autobio mode, I just remembered a moment in Wiesbaden, probably 1963? PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
Patrick talks about a friend with an interesting background.
This is an alternate version of Patrick’s autobiographical story East End, a bit more crude, as found in As Chance Would Have It. The one posted earlier was likely submitted for publication. PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
A story drawn from Patrick’s childhood about an older boy and other neighbor kids.
As Chance Would Have ItorThe Adventitious Life Here are the first two chapters of As Chance Would Have It, titled 1934 and 1937, though the story line extends beyond these dates. I’ve included the prefacing quotes as well. PatrickPatrick Meadows 1934 – 2017. patrick-meadows.com
Many years before I ever hear of the Beat Generation, or even Jack Kerouac in particular, I am on the road. In 1953 I am 19 years old. With Lee Liming we leave Winter Park for Oregon to work in the Coos Bay Lumber camp. In 1958 I am living not far from Kerouac, and (more)
The Reverend Dr. Huber was well-loved by the university students who made up most of his congregation. He was, as a Presbyterian, more intellectually inclined than his counterpart in the Baptist church, more liberal than the Methodist. He was the dynamo powering the Tuesday Coffee Hour, where you might hear a professor read from Finnegan’s (more)