Libraries are the last incubators for creative people.

Patrick Rader’s story begins in Westchester, Pennsylvania, where he was born to young parents who were full of ambition and musical dreams — self-described Motown wannabes. But the 1970s were a time of change, and for Patrick’s family, that meant heading south to Florida. They were drawn by the mythology of the state — the idea of The Fountain of Youth, a place of rebirth and new beginnings. But as Patrick later reflected, the myth gave way to reality: Florida was not a place of magic, but one where people came to reinvent themselves. His own parents were no exception. “My young parents reinvented themselves into an uninterested, teenage father and a twenty-year-old, single mom,” he would later share with the library staff.

As a child, Patrick began school in Umatilla, a quiet rural town, but by the third grade he transferred to Faith Lutheran School, where students were regularly assigned to write reflective essays based on sermons they had heard. From that point on, writing became a regular part of his life. His mother, a strong influence, wanted him to experience the world beyond his immediate surroundings. She made sure he visited a variety of religious spaces — churches, synagogues, temples — every few months. These experiences expanded his view of people, spirituality, and stories.

Not long after, Patrick’s family grew again. He gained an older sister, who brought with her a different kind of education: the music scene. She began taking him to legendary concerts throughout Central Florida during the 1970s and 1980s — a cultural education that added rhythm and rebellion to his developing identity.

“I don’t remember learning to read,” he said, “but I remember reading Silas Marner in the third grade and telling my mother ‘He falls in a hole, Mom. A freaking hole. The end!’ That same year he would write his first, hole-free, story about a trip to the moon - complete with dialogue.

“I have always been a writer,” he told the libraries, “No matter how hard I try to be anything else, I have always been a writer. It’s an onus. Having read Rolling Stone magazine since age 12, I have cut my literary chops on Hunter S. Thompson since a way too early age.” As a young adult, Patrick tried to mimic Thompson’s famous gonzo lifestyle. “As an adult student of letters, I have come to appreciate the man’s literary works, vision, and more. Now I live The Gonzo Way.”

During his recovery after the accident, he read anything people would give him. As an undergraduate student, he wrote extensively for The Independent Journal, UCF’s last, completely independent weekly. His corporate experience allowed him to find contract work for all manner of companies and industries while he continued his education. While earning his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Non-fiction, he served as the non-fiction editor for the Florida Review. He is also a gifted literary mimic, and with a little effort, he is able to write like anyone, he proclaims.

His mimicry of Maya Angelou’s poems were often not well received by his peers and professors, he explained, but he, “finds it is better to ask for forgiveness over permission. And, if you’re fast enough, neither is required.”

 Finally, Patrick explained that, “Teaching people how to better read and write is the best way I can open their eyes to the opportunities that are available to anyone with an education. I’m a kid from a Umatilla trailer park who has been places and done things I’ve never dreamed. I try not to forget that kid. I’m still doing some pretty crazy stuff, too.”

Patrick is teaching on all three campuses in the fall semester; if you see him, make sure to say hello!