Patricia Kennealy-Morrison (born Patricia Kennely; March 4, 1946 – July 21, 2021) was an American author and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Her published works include rock criticism, a memoir, and two series of science fiction/fantasy and

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novels. Her books are evenly divided between the series ''

The Keltiad ''The Keltiad'' is a body of epic fantasy works written by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison. There are eight novels in the series and one collection of short stories. The books are set in a star system far from our own, where various Celtic peoples em ...

'' and ''The Rock&Roll Murders: The Rennie Stride Mysteries''. As first a writer and then the editor-in-chief of ''

Jazz & Pop ''Jazz & Pop'' was an American music magazine that operated from 1962 to 1971. It was launched as ''Jazz'' and managed by Pauline Rivelli, with finance provided by Bob Thiele, the producer of jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Lou ...

'' magazine in the late 1960s, she was one of the first women rock

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

.Alt URL
/ref> Kennealy-Morrison worked as an advertising copywriter, receiving two

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί� ...

nominations. She was a Dame of the

Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem ( la , Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, OSMTH, french: Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem, OSMTJ) are a group of self-styled chivalric orders of common des ...

, a

High Priestess The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...

in a

Celtic Pagan Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as Celtic paganism, was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because the ancient Celts did not have writing, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts ...

tradition and a member of Mensa.Kennealy, Patricia (1998) ''Blackmantle – A Book of The Keltiad''. New York, HarperPrism

Life and career

Kennealy-Morrison was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York on March 4, 1946, the daughter of Genevieve Mary (McDonald) and Joseph Gerard Kennely, and reared on Long Island in the hamlet of North Babylon. She attended St. Bonaventure University for two years, majoring in journalism. She later transferred to Harpur College (now

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

), where she graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1967. She also studied at NYU, Parsons School of Design, and Christ Church, University of Oxford. After her college graduation at age 21, she moved to New York City, where she worked first as a lexicographer for Macmillan Publishing, then as an editorial assistant, and, from 1968 to 1971, editor-in-chief of ''

'' magazine. She was one of the first female rock critics. As editor-in-chief of ''Jazz & Pop'' she first interviewed

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

of the rock band

the Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

in January 1969. After the interview, they began a correspondence, became friends and later lovers. She and Morrison exchanged vows in a Celtic

handfasting Handfasting is a traditional practice that, depending on the term's usage, may define an unofficiated wedding (in which a couple marries without an officiant, usually with the intent of later undergoing a second wedding with an officiant), a ...

ceremony in June 1970. Before witnesses, the couple signed a document declaring themselves wed. The relationship continued to be long-distance, which she said suited them both just fine. As temperamental artists with their own careers, living together for more than short periods of time may have been too much for either to handle. She preferred a non-traditional arrangement to "domesticity" and had no desire to "wash im'ssocks". Morrison could be very difficult, at times loving and gentle, then suddenly brutal, or cold and distant. By the time Morrison was on trial in Miami, potentially facing a long sentence of hard labor, his at times erratic and even cruel behaviour led her to speculate that maybe he hadn't taken the wedding as seriously as he'd led her to believe. The author notes the pregnancy was not her choice. But then Morrison would change his tune yet again and profess his love and desire for domesticity, claiming he was planning on returning to her, and to the Doors, in the fall. Kennealy-Morrison was skeptical by this point, as he was known to vacillate like this in his other relationships, as well. Jim Morrison's sudden death at 27 would mean a lack of closure not only for her, but for the many people in his life. Kennealy-Morrison served as an advisor on

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

's 1991 movie ''

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

'', and played a small role in the film as the High Priestess who marries the Jim and Patricia characters (portrayed by

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

and

Kathleen Quinlan Kathleen Denise Quinlan Abbott (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,'' and her Golden ...

). However, in subsequent interviews and writings, she was scathingly critical of Stone's portrayal of Morrison, herself, and other people who were the basis for the film's fictional characters, saying Stone's fiction bore little to no resemblance to the people she had known or the events they lived through; Stone admitted that the character named after her was a composite of several of Morrison's girlfriends and regretted not giving her a fictional name.Kennealy (1992) pp. 378–381, 416–420. In the film her character is referred to as a "

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

Priestess", but Kennealy-Morrison identified as a

, not a Wiccan. Kennealy-Morrison has gone on record that she published her memoir ''Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison'' as a reaction and rejoinder to Stone's movie, among other reasons. In 2000,

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Do ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the pennant-winning

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, took the phrase "

Mojo Risin James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

" from

' "

L.A. Woman ''L.A. Woman'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime due to his death three months after the albu ...

" and made it the rallying cry for the team that year. Ventura and the Mets invited Kennealy-Morrison to a game just before the playoffs, where she met with them and became a Mets fan.Berardino, Mike. (September 7, 2002)
Mets have only themselves to blame after trading Ventura
" in the ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel''. Access date June 8, 2007 She died at the age of 75 on July 21, 2021.

Name

The author's legal name was "Patricia Kennealy Morrison". As a rock critic and editor, she initially published under her birth name, "Patricia Kennely", and later "Patricia Kennealy" (both are pronounced the same; she changed the spelling to be closer to the pronunciation). From 1994 to 2007 her books were published as "Patricia Kennealy-Morrison", with the hyphen. ''Ungrateful Dead'' and the subsequent Rennie Stride novels were her first books to be published as simply "Patricia Morrison". The author had said that she wished to make a distinction between her Celtic fantasy novels and the murder mysteries, so decided to use different versions of her name rather than an invented pen name.

Lizard Queen Press, the Rennie Stride Mysteries and more recent work

Following a 1999 split with her publisher HarperCollins, on May 19, 2007, Kennealy-Morrison announced via her blog that she planned to start her own publishing house, Lizard Queen Press, and to self-publish novels and non-fiction. The next Keltiad novel was to be ''The Beltane Queen'',Kennealy-Morrison, Patricia (May 19, 2007
"Return to Keltia and Other Places"
(accessed May 21, 2007)Kennealy-Morrison, Patricia (June 21, 2007

"Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead – The Rennie Stride Mysteries" (accessed July 3, 2007) but she turned to mystery writing instead. The first book to carry the Lizard Queen Press imprint is ''Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore'', published in 2007, first in the Rennie Stride series, which to date consists of six published books, all released on Lizard Queen Press. Additionally on LQP are '' Rock Chick: A Girl and Her Music'' (2013), a collection of PKM's writings originally published in ''Jazz & Pop'' magazine, ''Tales of Spiral Castle: Stories of the Keltiad'' (August 2014), a short-story collection set in her Keltiad world, and the forthcoming ''Son of the Northern Star'', a fictional account of the great conflict between the Viking king Guthrum and Alfred the Great. ''Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore'' is the first in a series of murder mysteries set in the turbulent world of 1960s rock & roll. ''Ungrateful Dead'' introduces the protagonist, Rennie Stride, rock reporter/detective, and her boyfriend (later husband) Turk Wayland, superstar English lead guitarist. Kennealy-Morrison has described the series as:

Seamlessly blending the fictional with the real: the stars, the bands, the music, all the excitement of the most incredible decade of the last century ... Full of rockworld dish and attitude, created by someone who was not only there for it but made some of it happen herself, and who took just enough drugs to get into it and not so many that she can't remember it ...

''Ungrateful Dead'' was published on November 1, 2007, to coincide with both the

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

and The Celtic New Year. Further novels in the Rennie Stride series are ''California Screamin': Murder at Monterey Pop'' (May 2009), ''Love Him Madly: Murder at the Whisky'' (March 2010), ''A Hard Slay's Night: Murder at the Royal Albert Hall'' (January 2011), ''Go Ask Malice: Murder at Woodstock'' (November 2012), and ''Scareway to Heaven: Murder at the Fillmore East'' (December 2014). The most recent in the series is ''Daydream Bereaver: Murder on the Good Ship Rock&Roll'' (published March 2016).

Bibliography

Novels

The Keltiad

* ''Blackmantle: A Triumph'' (1997) * ''Tales of Spiral Castle: Stories of the Keltiad'' (2014) short stories Tales of Aeron * ''The Copper Crown'' (1984) * ''The Throne of Scone'' (1986) * ''The Silver Branch'' (1988) Tales of Arthur * ''The Hawk's Gray Feather'' (1990) * ''The Oak Above the Kings'' (1994) * ''The Hedge of Mist'' (1996) Colloquies of the Ancients * ''The Deer's Cry'' (1998)

The Rennie Stride Mysteries

The Rock & Roll Murders * ''Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore'' (2007) * ''California Screamin': Murder at Monterey Pop'' (2009) * ''Love Him Madly: Murder at the Whisky'' (2010) * ''A Hard Slay's Night: Murder at the Royal Albert Hall'' (2011) * ''Go Ask Malice: Murder at Woodstock ''(2012) * ''Scareway to Heaven: Murder at the Fillmore East '' (2014) * ''Daydream Bereaver: Murder on the Good Ship Rock&Roll'' (2016)

Non-fiction

* ''Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison'' (1992) * ''Rock Chick: A Girl and Her Music'' (2013)

Anthologies

*''Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap'', eds. Evelyn McDonnell and

Ann Powers Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...

(1995), "Rock Around the Cock". . pp. 358–363. *''The Faces of Fantasy: Photographs by Patti Perret'', intro. by Terri Windling, *''

Crusade of Fire ''Crusade of Fire'' is an anthology edited by Katherine Kurtz. ''Crusade of Fire'' is the third anthology in the "Tales of the Knights Templar" series about the Knights Templars. It consists of eight different tales that concern the more mysti ...

: Mystical Tales of the Knights Templar'', ed.

Katherine Kurtz Katherine Irene Kurtz (born October 18. 1944) is an American fantasy writer, author of sixteen historical fantasy novels in the ''Deryni'' series, as well as occult and urban fantasy. Resident in Ireland for over twenty years, she moved to Virgi ...

(2002), "The Last Voyage".

References

External links

Mrs Morrison's Hotel
– Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's official blog

– Archive of Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's official website
Patricia Kennealy Morrison's LiveJournal
* *

* ttp://www.lib.rochester.edu/Camelot/intrvws/kennealy.htm Interview with Patricia Kennealy-Morrisoni
Taliesin's Successors: Interviews with Authors of Modern Arthurian Literature
* (accessed June 6, 2008)
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, Pioneering Rock Journalist, Fantasy Novelist and Partner to Jim Morrison, Dies at 75
– includes remembrances from family and friends {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennealy-Morrison, Patricia 1946 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American memoirists American music journalists American women short story writers American women novelists Harpur College alumni American modern pagans American women memoirists Writers from Brooklyn People from North Babylon, New York Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Mensans Women writers about music 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Novelists from New York (state) Modern pagan novelists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Jim Morrison