Oh, For the Love of Pat

You’d have to be in a certain age range to notice: 50 years and older. Any younger and you would never have heard of the man, but it is not uncommon for me to get the same question asked from the 50+ crowd: “Have you ever heard of the humorist, Patrick McManus? You have the same writing style.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Your Elwood K. Wayson (Swede) character sounds like the aging woodsman, Rancid Crabtree. Your best friend, Chuck, is a lot like Eddie Muldoon. Your granddog, Milton Barry and Pat’s dog, Strange are similar. Even your wives, Cheryl and Bun, have the same sarcastic reaction to their husband’s attitudes toward life.

“Well, all my characters are real,” I assure them.

“Yes, but I used to read his stories all the time in the Field and Stream, and Outdoor Life Magazines and the ways you put your stories together are very similar to a McManus story.”

“No, no. I can assure you that these are all my own stories,” I say, “but thanks for the comparison.”

Did I lie about knowing of Patrick McManus and my writing style being similar? Is it an insult? Well, maybe to McManus fans. Actually, it is a compliment. Patrick is my writing style mentor.

I was introduced to Pat quite by accident in a blue, paperback book lying on a table at work 30 years ago. Its pages were worn and smudged from all the dirty hands holding it. There was a cartoon illustration on the front cover of a family at a campsite being terrorized by a bear. The book was entitled, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw.

I had never seen the book before, so on my twenty-minute break, I skimmed through the first chapter. Before I put the book down, tears were running down my face from uncontrolled laughter. Never had I read anything so funny. Each chapter in the book was a stand-alone story from the mind of a man named Patrick McManus.

His satire stories, which focus mainly on hunting, fishing, and camping, like opioid painkillers, are addictive. Addictive to the point of me owning 15 of his compilation story books, 6 of his Sheriff Bo Tully novels, (many of which were autographed by Pat at book shows) and twice watching actor Tim Behrens perform Pat’s one-man comedy plays.

I was surprised to learn early on that Patrick was a resident of Spokane, Washington, the same state where I live. That made him that much more of a treasure.

He was born in Sandpoint, Idaho in 1933 and lived on Sand Creek. His father died when Pat was young so he and his sister, the Troll, were raised by his mother and grandmother. Pat’s mother, who was a schoolteacher, helped him with his elementary education. Pat went through the Sandpoint school system and graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1952.

My brother lives in that town now and when I have visited, it is easy to imagine the location of the stores, the fishing creeks, and hunting mountains which he writes about in the stories from his boyhood.

After high school, he went on to attend Washington State College (Now WSU) where he got a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in 1959. From 1960 to 1983 he taught English, journalism, and creative writing at Eastern Washington State College (Now University).

Developing his writing style of satire and humor, he sold his first story to the Field and Stream magazine in 1968 and later became an editor and writer for Outdoor Life. I can remember buying the magazines just for the McManus stories inside. It is the compilation of these magazine stories that make up his first 15 books.

The recipe for a McManus story is this: 1) Have a humorous beginning and ending. 2) Use only clean humor. 3) Use actual incidents which happened in his life. 4) Embellish the heck out of the incidents to make the story funny. These stories are called misadventures. This unique story telling style is what won him so many awards, sold so many books, and gave him national recognition.

I, being an avid McManus fan, never dreamed of being a writer, but one day, and I believe it to be by divine inspiration, stories started coming into my head from actual events in my life, and I have used Pat’s format to present them.

I believe that storytelling was God’s gift to help me through a rough patch in my life which is commonly known as retirement.

Yes, the Mitchellway stories sound like the McManus style because I want to emulate his formula. But added to my satires I have added stories of my faith. Of how I got this way.

Sadly, Patrick died in 2018 at the age of 85. He and his wife were still living in Spokane at the time. He leaves behind four daughters and many grandchildren.

I do not know if the one act plays are still being performed or how the sales of his books are doing now that he is gone. I do know that he was a very creative and funny storyteller that garnered an immense readership of loyal and admiring fans who loved his unique storytelling ability.

I am learning to be a storyteller and I admit, I learned from one of the best.

** Title Photo Credit: Eastern Washington University, KREM television.

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