about patrick
I grew up running through the cornfields of northern Indiana. At age thirteen, my father took me fishing for walleye in the woods of Ontario for the first time, and for many summers after. The north woods and the idea of living near wilderness bagged me like a trophy. I moved to Alaska shortly after college, just to ‘take a look.’ I taught in the winters and commercial fished the waters of Cook Inlet for salmon in the summers for the next twenty-three years. My first writings about fishing were visceral responses to the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Two poems and an article launched me to writing about the maritime life ever since. Middle Rip and Fallout are the poems. The article was published in National Fisherman magazine, and can be found HERE.
Since moving to Olympia, Washington, I have freelanced with photography and articles for Oregon Coast magazine, the Smithsonian, Crowley Maritime Connections magazine, Pacific Fishing magazine, National Fisherman magazine and others. I read at the FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon for seventeen years, and I read my poems and essays about commercial fishing and life on the water at venues throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
I began my photography career as a high-school yearbook photographer. Years later, I bought my first 35mm camera when I visited Alaska for the first time. In 1979 I found myself in Yosemite, California, immersed in a week-long workshop on photography with none other than Ansel Adams. It was a life-changer, and the story can be found on my photo blog, From the Field. At the end of that week I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life. Thirty-five years later I am certain it was the right decision.
My personal writing takes shape mostly in poetry and nonfiction essays. Much of my work can be seen on my blog, Gillnet Dreams. My subject matter is my own experience and observation, and a healthy portion of that is concentrated upon my twenty years commercial salmon fishing in Alaska. Poetically, Clemens Starck, Ted Kooser, Robert Frost and Billy Collins, and Erin Fristad, a good friend and mentor who is a sensitive and perceptive poet, fisherwoman and essayist, have had an impact upon the way I craft my poems. Several writers from the FisherPoets Gathering have had the most influence on my prose, including Toby Sullivan, a fine writer and set-netter from Kodiak, Alaska and Tele Aadsen, a wonderful author and blogger who trolls SE Alaska and hails from equal parts Sitka and Bellingham, Washington. These and other fisherpoets and I have read together in several venues, and I am always inspired by their mastery of the craft. Check their work out at the fisherpoet archive website, www.inthetote.com.
In 2014 I edited a seven-book anthology of fisherpoetry called Anchored in Deep Water: The FisherPoets Anthology. A year and a half in the making, I partnered with the award-winning artist Chelsea Stephen, to create a beautiful collection of books that contain wonderful stories, songs and poetry, and represent over 40 writers who have performed at the FisherPoets Gathering held each February in Astoria.
I believe poets are photographers with words, creating verbal snapshots of our lives. Nonfiction writers make longer pieces – films, if you will. Both are storytellers. The trick becomes making the work interesting and meaningful. That is as much in the telling as it is the content. Ansel Adams said, “The negative is the score; the print is the performance.”
Writing and photography are like fire and water. I love the burning craft of creating a story or poem. I get lost in the visual flow and mystery of photography equally as much. Now that I think about it, I would hope so. I’ve been doing both all my life.
I would be sorely remiss without acknowledging the folks who have helped me become the writer and photographer I have become. First among them is my fantastic editor and best critic of over 40 years, Veronica. Other appreciations include, but aren't limited to my sons Kessler and Dylan, and my good friends and readers of my late-night email attachments, Margo Benedetto, Marc Berezin, Doug Ford and my mentor, colleague and invaluable advisor Erin Fristad. My writer's group led by the indomitable Bryan Willis and attended by such wonderful poets as Joanne Clarkson, Patty Kinney and Cindy Weinberg among other great writers and listeners who have given me solid courses to steer for nearly four years now. To you all, my heartfelt gratitude. I am fortunate to have you within my community. Many of my writings feel like collaborations because of you, and are better for it, as am I.
Since moving to Olympia, Washington, I have freelanced with photography and articles for Oregon Coast magazine, the Smithsonian, Crowley Maritime Connections magazine, Pacific Fishing magazine, National Fisherman magazine and others. I read at the FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon for seventeen years, and I read my poems and essays about commercial fishing and life on the water at venues throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
I began my photography career as a high-school yearbook photographer. Years later, I bought my first 35mm camera when I visited Alaska for the first time. In 1979 I found myself in Yosemite, California, immersed in a week-long workshop on photography with none other than Ansel Adams. It was a life-changer, and the story can be found on my photo blog, From the Field. At the end of that week I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life. Thirty-five years later I am certain it was the right decision.
My personal writing takes shape mostly in poetry and nonfiction essays. Much of my work can be seen on my blog, Gillnet Dreams. My subject matter is my own experience and observation, and a healthy portion of that is concentrated upon my twenty years commercial salmon fishing in Alaska. Poetically, Clemens Starck, Ted Kooser, Robert Frost and Billy Collins, and Erin Fristad, a good friend and mentor who is a sensitive and perceptive poet, fisherwoman and essayist, have had an impact upon the way I craft my poems. Several writers from the FisherPoets Gathering have had the most influence on my prose, including Toby Sullivan, a fine writer and set-netter from Kodiak, Alaska and Tele Aadsen, a wonderful author and blogger who trolls SE Alaska and hails from equal parts Sitka and Bellingham, Washington. These and other fisherpoets and I have read together in several venues, and I am always inspired by their mastery of the craft. Check their work out at the fisherpoet archive website, www.inthetote.com.
In 2014 I edited a seven-book anthology of fisherpoetry called Anchored in Deep Water: The FisherPoets Anthology. A year and a half in the making, I partnered with the award-winning artist Chelsea Stephen, to create a beautiful collection of books that contain wonderful stories, songs and poetry, and represent over 40 writers who have performed at the FisherPoets Gathering held each February in Astoria.
I believe poets are photographers with words, creating verbal snapshots of our lives. Nonfiction writers make longer pieces – films, if you will. Both are storytellers. The trick becomes making the work interesting and meaningful. That is as much in the telling as it is the content. Ansel Adams said, “The negative is the score; the print is the performance.”
Writing and photography are like fire and water. I love the burning craft of creating a story or poem. I get lost in the visual flow and mystery of photography equally as much. Now that I think about it, I would hope so. I’ve been doing both all my life.
I would be sorely remiss without acknowledging the folks who have helped me become the writer and photographer I have become. First among them is my fantastic editor and best critic of over 40 years, Veronica. Other appreciations include, but aren't limited to my sons Kessler and Dylan, and my good friends and readers of my late-night email attachments, Margo Benedetto, Marc Berezin, Doug Ford and my mentor, colleague and invaluable advisor Erin Fristad. My writer's group led by the indomitable Bryan Willis and attended by such wonderful poets as Joanne Clarkson, Patty Kinney and Cindy Weinberg among other great writers and listeners who have given me solid courses to steer for nearly four years now. To you all, my heartfelt gratitude. I am fortunate to have you within my community. Many of my writings feel like collaborations because of you, and are better for it, as am I.