RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 02/08/2002 - HFSID 291273

RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON
Handwritten letter to Barnaby Conrad, declining to attend his Writers Workshop because his outside writing is devoted to political topics now
Autograph Letter signed: "Ric", 1 page, 6¼x8½, No place, 2002 February 8. To "Dear Barnaby" [Conrad]. In full: "You're a good one to ask. But am funny about this kind of thing - I do a lot of outside (including political) stuff now, and don't write in public unless it's a talk or op-ed piece. Or speech on choice, gun control, campaign reform, or women's health and workplace issues. I've just had to draw some arbitrary lines. Hope all is well. Do you ever get to S. F. now? All best". Pencil note (possibly in Barnaby Conrad's hand): "Richard North Patterson". Richard North Patterson (b. 1947) was a partner in some prestigious law firms and Assistant Attorney General of Ohio before he wrote his first novel, The Roscoe Tangent, which won the Edgar Allen Poe award for Best First Mystery Novel in 1980. In 1993, he retired from law practice to devote full-time to writing; his 19th novel, The Devil's Light was published in 2011. Patterson has served on the National Governing Board of Common Cause, and is active on the political issues he mentions in this letter. Author Barnaby Conrad, the letter's recipient, ran the Santa Barbara Writers Workshop for over thirty years, beginning in 1973, and invited noted authors to participate. Multiple mailing folds. Pencil note (unknown hand) at lower edge. Corners light worn. Otherwise, fine condition.