Has anyone read the new James Patterson memoir "Stories of My Life" ?

[anobserver2]

33. Deception #5 in Memoir: His working life before advertising

Last edited Tue Jun 14, 2022, 04:44 PM - Edit history (2)

There are several things that do not ring true to me in Patterson's memoir about his working life prior to him going into advertising.

In his memoir he claims that during his time at Manhattan College, he and 10 friends would go to the Fillmore East and work for $12 an hour or something like that as "ushers" for music concerts.

I am finding this hard to believe on several levels.

But, I have no doubt that no matter what I may say, he can pull out 10 people (and pay them) and they will all swear on a stack of Bibles that every word in his memoir is true. So, I know: I am potentially up against a bunch of liars.

Nevertheless - here are a few things I find odd about his claim that he worked at the Fillmore East while an undergraduate:

1) His memoir never discloses his housing situation while he was at Manhattan College. I seem to recall reading his "first" apartment in NYC came after college - which means he was living in a college dormitory.

2) Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic college. I am 100% certain they would strictly enforce any policies pertaining to dorm life.

3) I am guessing: Patterson's dorm had curfews. So he (and 10 of his closest campus pals) actually could not go out at all hours of the night for their alleged work as "ushers" at a concert.

4) Here are the policies of Manhattan College posted online pertaining to dorm life:

https://inside.manhattan.edu/student-life/dean-of-students/code-conduct.php#quiethours

IV. RESIDENCE LIFE COMMUNITY STANDARDS AND CODE OF CONDUCT

A. Quiet Hours
Courtesy hours are in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means that music, conversation, TV volumes and all other noise should be respectful of community living.

Quiet hours are from Sunday through Thursday, 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. and on Friday and Saturday from midnight to 8:00 a.m. This means that music, conversation, TV volumes and all other noise should not emanate beyond one’s room.

Standard Minimum Sanctions May Result In

Reprimand. Chronic violations of quiet hours can lead to suspension from residence halls. ...

5) So, it would not surprise me if in fact: having a job such as Patterson described in his memoir would be impossible to have while living in a dorm at a college such as Manhattan College -- which I am guessing had a curfew policy that was in full force and effect while Patterson was a student there.

6) I do not have any firsthand recollection of the Fillmore East as a music venue. I read some info online. If what I read was true, then this venue (in the East Village of Manhattan) was located very far from Manhattan College (which is in the Bronx).

7) In addition, if what I read online about the Fillmore East was true, this venue, which later became the Saint nightclub, had a $5 general admission ticket price during the time it was open for concerts from 1968 to around 1971. And the multiple number of bands set to play each show were posted on the outside marquee. So - what is an usher doing? Not handing out programs or showing people to their seats, since it's general admission and there are no programs.

8) If what I read online about the Fillmore East is true, the concert promoter, Bill Graham, was known for caring about the bands and the patrons in this 2500+ seat venue, and he made certain there were medical personnel onsite at all times to help anyone who needed it.

In my own experience going to general admission concerts in venues to see musical groups, I do not ever recall dealing with any "usher."

So, for all those reasons, I do not believe Patterson's claim in his memoir that he and 10 other people worked as ushers at the Fillmore East during hie college days.

I think he lived in a dorm. I think going out at night was subject to a curfew in his dorm when he lived at this Roman Catholic college.

That is my opinion.

I also do not believe he spent summer after summer working at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. I think it is possible he worked there one summer, between high school and college. But I don't think he worked there every summer. It is just my gut feeling. He was not leaving his dorm in NYC in the Bronx every summer. My gut tells me he stayed in NYC during the summer in his college days.

Maybe Patterson did not have to work during his college days or college summers because: his father was now making so much money working at the Prudential Building in Boston.

Based on other info I read outside of his memoir, Patterson's parents lived in Lexington, MA, in a house. So, clearly, Patterson was not poor at this point. And I don't think he worked at any job at all during college.

Here is his mother's obituary in the local Lexington, MA newspaper online that I happened to see:

Isabelle (Morris) Patterson Obituary


Isabelle (Morris) Patterson JUPITER, Fla. Isabelle Patterson,
87, our loving mother and grandmother, passed away
Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. A long-term care resident of The
Pavilion @ JMC in Jupiter, she was formerly of Newburgh,
N.Y., and Lexington, Mass. Born Jan. 17, 1922, she was the
only child of Charles and Isabelle Morris. Isabelle graduated
from the Newburgh Free Academy in 1939 and earned a
bachelor's degree from St. Joseph's College in Emmitsburg,
Md., in 1943. A devoted elementary school educator, she
taught in the parochial school system for 30 years. She was
preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Isabelle
Morris, and husband, Charles Patterson (1999). She is
survived by her son James Patterson, daughters Maryellen Patterson, Teresa Secrest and Carole Patterson, and grandchildren Brigid Dwyer, Meredith Dwyer, Andrew Klauk and Jack Patterson. With special gratitude to the staff of The Pavilion and Hospice of P.B. County, a memorial reception will be held for family, friends, staff and residents at The Pavilion, 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 4. The family requests that any memorial contributions be sent to The Pavilion @ JMC, 1230 South Old Dixie Highway, Jupiter, FL 33458. Arrangements entrusted to Aycock Funeral Home, Jupiter.

Published in The Lexington Minuteman from January 22 to January 29, 2010