Patrick Joseph Frawley, Jr. (1923–1998) was a Nicaraguan-American
business magnate whose portfolio included
Paper Mate
Paper Mate is a registered division of Sanford L.P., a Newell Brands company that produces writing instruments. Paper Mate's offices are located in Oak Brook, Illinois, along with those of Newell Rubbermaid's other office products divisions.
...
,
Schick, and
Technicolor, Inc. A devout
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, he was a leading
American conservative
Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conser ...
figure from the late 1950s onward. He became involved in publishing and film production from the late 1960s.
Biography
Frawley was born in
León, Nicaragua, to an Irish-born father and a French-Spanish mother.
[Thomas Jr., Robert McG]
"Patrick Frawley Jr., 75, Ex-Owner of Schick,"
''New York Times'' (Nov. 9, 1998). He grew up in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, though he dropped out of high school and returned to Nicaragua as a teenager to learn the ways of business from his father.
Because of his father's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
citizenship,
Frawley enlisted in the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
and served in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. In 1945, he married a Canadian woman named Geraldine and settled in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
Shortly after the war, Frawley acquired his first company, a
ballpoint pen
A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian and Philippine English), or dot pen (Nepali) is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) over a metal ball at its point, i.e. over a "ball point". ...
parts manufacturer that had defaulted on its loan,
[Paper Mate History]
renaming it the Frawley Pen Company. In 1949, the Frawley Pen Company developed an ink that dried instantly; the pen that delivered this ink was called "The
Paper Mate
Paper Mate is a registered division of Sanford L.P., a Newell Brands company that produces writing instruments. Paper Mate's offices are located in Oak Brook, Illinois, along with those of Newell Rubbermaid's other office products divisions.
...
." The company claims to have made the "first pen with a
retractable ballpoint tip" in 1950.
In 1955, the Frawley Pen Company was obtained by
The Gillette Company, Inc. for $15.5 million, and formed the basis for the Paper Mate Division of Gillette. Frawley used the profits to buy controlling shares in
Shick and
Technicolor, Inc.
Fidel Castro's takeover of a Shick factory in Cuba in 1958 awakened Frawley politically, and from that point forward he advocated (mostly behind the scenes) for
anti-communist causes.
Frawley and
Walter Knott
Walter Marvin Knott (December 11, 1889 – December 3, 1981) was an American farmer who created the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California, introduced the Boysenberry, and made Knott's Berry Farm boysenberry preserves.
Early life
On D ...
, founder of
Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...
, provided financial support to
Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, and they funded
Fred Schwarz
Frederick Charles Schwarz, MD (15 January 1913 – 24 January 2009) was an Australian physician, author, and political activist who founded the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC). He made a number of speaking tours in the United States in ...
's anticommunist rallies.
Frawley had
alcohol addiction
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
problems, and in 1964 checked into the
Shadel Sanatorium in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
for
aversion therapy
Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associate the stimulus wit ...
. He thought the experience was so valuable that he "bought the hospital for Schick, and renamed it Schick Shadel."
In 1967, Frawley established the Twin Circle Publishing Co. as a subsidiary of Schick Investment Corp,
[Cassels, Louis]
"Frawley An Opinion-Maker In Roman Catholic Church,"
''Desert Sun'' Vol. 44, No. 28 (5 September 1970). founding the Catholic weekly newspaper ''
Twin Circle
''Faith & Family'' was a bi-monthly periodical about Catholic living, with a particular emphasis on marriage and motherhood. Launched in 1967 as ''Twin Circle'', the magazine was renamed ''Faith & Family'' in 2000; it folded in 2011. The headquar ...
''.
That same year, he acquired
Gilberton's ''
Classics Illustrated
''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', '' Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...
'' line of
comic books from founder
Albert Kanter
Albert Lewis Kanter (April 11, 1897March 17, 1973) was the creator of ''Classics Illustrated'' and ''Classics Illustrated Junior''. Kanter began creating ''Classic Comics'' with "The Three Musketeers" in October 1941. His renditions of classic no ...
. He continued selling ''Classics Illustrated'' and its sister series ''
Classics Illustrated Junior'' under the publisher name the Frawley Corporation. Frawley published the series final titles, "In Freedom's Cause" and "Negro Americans," in 1969, but mainly concentrated on foreign sales and reprinting older titles. By the early 1970s, ''Classics Illustrated'' and ''Classics Illustrated Junior'' had been discontinued, although Frawley held on to the rights at least through the mid-1980s.
By 1970, Twin Circle Publishing broadcast daily radio hits and a weekly half-hour television show espousing Frawley's conservative Catholic views. At that point, he took over publishing the ''
National Catholic Register
The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...
'' newspaper, changing its editorial focus from progressive to conservative.
In 1970, Schick became a subsidiary of
Warner-Lambert.
Also in 1970, Canadian theatre and film producer
Harry Saltzman
Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Den ...
won control of Technicolor from chairman Frawley in a proxy fight.
In 1971,
Frawley (on behalf of
Schick), along with
Charles E. Sellier Jr., and Rayland Jensen founded
Schick Sunn Classic Pictures
Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...
, based in
Park City, Utah
Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake Cit ...
. The company produced independent feature films, documentaries, and
made-for-television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature film, feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical f ...
s; in the period 1977–1982 the company produced a number of television films with the ''
Classics Illustrated
''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', '' Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...
'' brand, including ''
The Time Machine
''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...
'', ''
Donner Pass: The Road to Survival'', and ''
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Birm ...
''.
In 1995, Frawley sold the ''National Catholic Register'' and (the renamed) ''Catholic Twin Circle'' to the
Legion of Christ
The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ ( la, Congregatio Legionariorum Christi; abbreviated LC; also Legion of Christ) is a Roman Catholic clerical religious order made up of priests and candidates for the priesthood established by Marcia ...
.
[Dart, John]
"2 Catholic Papers Sold : Media: Group with reported ties to Legion of Christ religious order buys National Catholic Register and Catholic Twin Circle,"
''Los Angeles Times'' (OCT. 7, 1995).
Frawley died on November 3, 1998, in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...
, leaving behind a sister,
two sons, five daughters,
and 20 grandchildren.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frawley, Patrick
1923 births
1998 deaths
20th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
American businesspeople
American Roman Catholics
American film producers
Comic book publishers (people)
Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II
Nicaraguan emigrants to the United States