ALUMNI NEWS
Significant research helps shape book about historical figure A College of Communications alumnus has written a book about Juan Patrón, an influential historical figure during what is known as the “bloodiest saga of the American west.” Paul Tsompanas (’58 Journ) wrote a biography about Patrón that has been nominated for multiple awards. The nominations include Best Book on Wild West History in 2012 from the Wild West Historical Association and Best Biography of a New Mexico Subject from the New Mexico Book Cooperative. Along with the award nominations,the book was deemed a “special project” by the New Mexico Centennial Foundation because of Patrón’s legislative achievements that helped New Mexico reach statehood in 1912. Tsompanas’s interest in Patrón is more of an accident than an avid interest in southwestern political history, though. “I first heard about Juan Patrón just weeks after graduating from Penn State during my reserve officer’s commission in the U.S. Navy. While at my first duty station in San Diego, I began courting a local young woman named Mary Eva Patrón,” said Tsompanas. “During the court-
ship, her father would regale me with stories about his own father, Juan Patrón, who once had held Billy the Kid prisoner in his store and was a popular politician during New Mexico’s violent frontier days in the 1870s.” Tsompanas enjoyed the stories about Patrón, but had no interest in pursuing it any further at that time. Much later, when working on his own family history, his interest was peaked. “Six years ago, at the age of 70, I began writing my memoirs for my children and grandchildren. After finishing a chapter about my Greek-Italian family background, I next wanted to write about the Patrón family history, recalling the stories told to me about Juan Patrón,” Tsompanas said.“However, none of Patrón’s living descendants had any knowledge about the family’s past because all of Juan’s personal possessions had been lost in a shed fire in New Mexico shortly after his death in 1884. So, cobbling together Juan’s life became a challenging task that lasted five years.” After some lengthy research, Tsompanas found out amazing things about Patrón. “Surprisingly, my research uncovered a remarkable young man.
In a span of only six years, Patrón rose through the ranks of local government to become Speaker of the House in Santa Fe at the age of 25, the youngest in New Mexico history,” said Tsompanas. “During his brief life, he had been a school teacher, county chairman, captain of a militia that rounded up outlaws, a church leader and an admired businessman. Once I discovered all of this, I knew that Juan Patrón deserved a book.” Tsompanas hopes that with the new book Patrón will be a more widely recognized figure in American history. “My wish is that one day the Patrón biography will be in every high school and public library in this country so that the youth of America will know what life really was like in the Wild West, where guns rather than the law settled disputes until courageous men like Patrón took steps to bring law and order to a troubled land,” said Tsompanas. Tsompanas has had an eclectic career in both journalism and politics. He has earned awards for his journalism from the New Mexico Press Association and has served as the chief of staff to a California congressman. Tsompanas currently resides in Colonial Beach, Va., with his wife Mary Ann. l
Alumnus compiles book with quotes from existing literature A 1975 College of Communications alumnus has published a book made up of quotations from existing literature. Gary Freedman recently published “Significant Moments,” a book made up from quotes from already published works. Freedman used the termination from his job and the year that followed as inspiration for writing the book. “I began to notice similar themes in books, themes that interested me, themes that I identified with,” said Freedman. “In effect, the book serves as a kind of psychological memoir, highlighting my own identifications, associations and fantasies.” Freedman said compiling the book was a process that took different directions, and time. “Over those years I added quotations. I added sections
THE COMMUNICATOR
and rearranged sections,” said Freedman. “The book kind of grew like a plant, with new branches emerging all the time. The writing became more and more fluid over time. I began to break up the large quotes with the insertion of words, phrases and sentences.” In addition, writing the book allowed Freedman to see how life can be paralleled by fiction. “I am interested in how fictional literature matches real life situations. If you read the book you will see that I show parallels between literature and historical events,” said Freedman. “The book kind of blurs the distinction between reality and fantasy. I use literature to elaborate historical events.” “Significant Moments” is available on amazon.com online. l 54
SUMMER 2013