Patrick Meadows and Stephanie Shepard Memorial Site
Letters to and from Patrick from over the years. I am attempting to remove last names in the interest of privacy. Many of his old letters are undated. When that happens I make an educated guess (in terms of posting dates for this web site) but I could be wildly off in some cases.
A story Patrick sent to me on 13 March 2015. In the kitchen preparing breakfast I have bacon on medium heat, abiding by Steinbeck’s advice to cook it slowly, a couple of eggs at the ready, abiding by my own rule never to put eggs in the refrigerator, and humming to myself to cover the […]
Here’s a letter to a sister, dated 11 Feb 2015. He mentions Bob Dreicer, who died a couple of days earlier, Suzy, Frank, and of course Stephanie. There are several poetic lines, including “We use to scoop all that scenery up together. “ Thanks for the fotos. Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too. Any news […]
I approach eighty living on this beautiful island, and probably will finish up here. Over half my life I have been living here in paradise. To get here and stay here I sinned a lot, but it has been worth it. Unless, of course, when I quit this world I have to pay for those […]
Even in mundane correspondence, Patrick and his friends remained true to their artistic, poetic roots. Their imagery and storytelling lushly fills the pages. This is one reason I share these letters: to share his love of words and his practice and appreciation of the wordsmith craft. Patrick saved this exchange in a separate file, clearly […]
I found several versions of this letter from December 2006 to March 2010, but the differences were mostly cosmetic. This is pasted from the 2010 version. Around St. Patrick´s day 1976, I left Tampa with my five year old daughter. We returned to Mallorca where she was born. Dear Stephanie. You always believed in something […]
Found in my e-mail, this was part of a collection of things Patrick sent me called “You Never Know.” This segment is dated 19 April 2006. My first impulse when Stephanie died was to dump everything – after 29 years together, the accumulated baggage was overwhelming. Not only physical objects – the house was full […]
Here’s a letter from Fred to Patrick in which he remembers some of their earlier adventures together. I found it in a Word document dated 1 Dec ‘5, but I don’t know when it was actually written. My guess is that it’s from the early 2000’s, after they had established an e-mail connection, since I […]
Fred Young and Patrick were fast friends, deep friends, unending friends, for many years. Many of his letters, and those to him from Patrick, reflected their mutual zest for life, appreciation of the arts, and passion. Patrick had saved this obituary in his files, important enough to keep after downsizing most other things. I present […]
(e-mail from Fred on 12 Aug 2001, part of a large collection Patrick sent to me in Aug 2015) Subject: greetings Dear Stephanie & Pat, Full of music, good food (no small admission from one who lives in Firenze), dance, incredible landscapes, some new friends, & best of all, affection. I have printed them out […]
e-mail letter from Fred to Patrick and Stephanie on 14 Feb ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 Subject: Greetings . . . to you’all, dere Stephanie & Pat, i miei valentini, Yep, I finished a whole novel. Loved AN EQUAL […]
e-mail letter from Fred to Patrick and Stephanie on 31 Jan ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 19:08:46 -0500 Subject: But . . . Merwin DID say, ‘If I wasn’t human I wouldn’t be ashamed of anything’ & Oooo how […]
e-mail letter from Fred to Patrick and Stephanie on 31 Jan ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Yep, did get yours & yours, dear Stephanie, & have no explanation. suspect it was my server. Address remains the same & is in order now — I […]
e-mail letter from Patrick to Fred on 28 Jan ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 15:03:53 +0100 Subject: Re: musick & cosi varii yessir, fred, i loved an equal music. it seems a lot of young musicians don’t, but young […]
e-mail letter from Fred to Patrick on 27 Jan ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2001 14:52:22 -0500 Subject: musick & cosi varii Greetings J & p, Can not pull up the S. T. Coleridge nonet. Try it again please. Sounds […]
e-mail letter from Patrick to Fred on 20 Jan ‘1, which Patrick sent to me on 8 Sep ’15 as part of a large collection. Patrick was responding to an earlier message in-line, so I’m showing Fred’s text in italics below. ********* we just return from hearing mozart, schumann, and shostakovitch for violin and piano […]