William Penn Patrick (March 31, 1930 – June 9, 1973) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and fraudster. He was the owner of

Holiday Magic Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick (1930–1973) in the United States. Originally the organization distributed goods such as home-care products and cosmetics. Company distribut ...

, Leadership Dynamics, and

Mind Dynamics Mind Dynamics was a seminar company, founded by Alexander Everett in Texas in 1968. The company ceased operating in December 1973 after the death of co-owner William Penn Patrick and the resignation of President Robert White, alongside investiga ...

. Patrick was a proponent of the

sour grapes Sour Grapes may refer to: * Sour grapes, an expression from "The Fox and the Grapes", one of Aesop's Fables * ''Sour Grapes'' (1998 film), a film by Larry David * ''Sour Grapes'' (2016 film), a film about Rudy Kurniawan * ''Sour Grapes'' (poetry c ...

philosophy, and has been widely quoted as stating: "Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it." Patrick tried unsuccessfully to enter politics, first running against

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for governor of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was later nominated by the California Theocratic Party for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

. Patrick was a member of the

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. T ...

. In 1972 an

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

jet, owned by Patrick, crashed into an ice cream parlor in Sacramento, killing 22 people on the ground. Patrick was not the pilot at that time, but a year later he died in a crash in his

P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA ...

Lakeport, California Lakeport is an incorporated city and the county seat of Lake County, California. This city is northwest of Sacramento. Lakeport is on the western shore of the county namesake, Clear Lake, at an elevation of . The population was 5,026 at the 202 ...

Political career

Patrick sought out the

nomination for governor of

, in 1966. Patrick alleged that a

pollster An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

Mervin Field Mervin Field (March 11, 1921 – June 8, 2015) was an American pollster of public opinion in the state of California. Biography Field was born in 1921, the youngest of five children, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He grew up in Princeton, Ne ...

, had accepted money to influence a poll in the campaign. Mervin Field sued Patrick for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

, for damages of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

4 million, and was awarded

300,000. Patrick later lost the nomination, to

. ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' described Patrick's campaign strategy as that of "out-Reaganing Ronald Reagan". In 1967, Patrick formed a fundraising group to run for

Thomas Kuchel Thomas Henry Kuchel ( ; August 15, 1910 – November 21, 1994) was an American politician. A moderate Republican, he served as a US Senator from California from 1953 to 1969 and was the minority whip in the Senate, where he was the co-manage ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

seat. Patrick was later nominated for

, in 1967, by the California Theocratic Party. ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' referred to Patrick as the "strangest politician". He was mainly popular among ultraconservative and ultra right political circles in California.

Businessman

Patrick began his experience in sales selling products door-to-door in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He was the owner of companies including Leadership Dynamics, a controversial company which was the first form of

Large Group Awareness Training The term large-group awareness training (LGAT) refers to activities - usually offered by groups with links to the human potential movement - which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' Persona ...

, and

, a door-to-door

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

company later termed by the United States Federal government to be

fraudulent In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensa ...

.
William Penn Patrick, a former mentor of Turner's, was charged last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission with bilking some 80,000 people out of more than $250 million through his Holiday Magic cosmetics and soap empire. Mind Dynamics was initially founded by Alexander Everett, and Patrick backed the company before buying it. Patrick's companies were later investigated by the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

,84 F.T.C. 748
IN THE MATTER OF HOLIDAY MAGIC, INC., ET AL. ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO ALLEGED VIOLATION OF SEC. 5 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT AND SEC. 2(a) OF THE CLAYTON ACT, Docket 8834., Complaint, Jan. 18, 1971, Decision, Oct. 15, 1974. on allegations of

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...

s. Leadership Dynamics folded amidst lawsuits and allegations of

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

Death

William Penn Patrick died on June 9, 1973, at age 43, in the crash of his privately owned

near his farm at

Clearlake Oaks, California Clearlake Oaks is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, California, United States. It is located on the northeast of Clear Lake, 8 miles (13.8 km) northwest of the town of Clearlake, at an elevation of 1,335 feet (407 m). The pop ...

. He was flying the plane at the time; after making a low pass, he pulled up steeply, stalled, and entered a

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

from which he did not recover. Although he was a certified pilot, he had only 154 hours of flight time in the P-51D, and only about four hours over the preceding three months.NTSB brief OAK73FVG65 on Patrick's fatal crash.
He was flying with Christian George Hagert, 30, director of Holiday Magic of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, who also died in the crash.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, William Penn 1930 births 1973 deaths Accidental deaths in California Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States California Republicans John Birch Society members People associated with direct selling People from San Rafael, California People from Washington County, North Carolina 20th-century American businesspeople Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1973 Pyramid and Ponzi schemes