Name James Patterson Died 1992 | Parents Joseph Medill Patterson Aunts Cissy Patterson | |
Education United States Military Academy Grandparents Robert Wilson Patterson, Elinor Medill Similar People Joseph Medill Patterson, Alicia Patterson, Cissy Patterson | ||
James Joseph Patterson (1923–1992) was an American newspaper executive who was part of an influential publishing family.
Life
Patterson was born in England in 1923 and raised in Ossining, New York. Patterson was the only son of Joseph Medill Patterson, the founder of the New York Daily News and the great-grandson of Joseph Medill, owner of the Chicago Tribune and mayor of Chicago. His mother was Mary King, the first female editor of the Tribune.
Patterson graduated from West Point in 1944 and went on to achieve the rank of captain in the United States Army. In April 1944 his engagement was announced to Dorothy Marie Clarke (born May 4, 1922); they had met in grade-school run by St. Augustine Catholic Church in Ossining. Her father was a prison guard at Sing Sing prison with 14 siblings. They were married on June 10, 1944 in the Catholic Church. He joined the Daily News in 1949 as a reporter in the Washington bureau. After working in various positions, he became vice president and assistant managing editor of the Daily News in 1958. The couple never had children, and retired to Longboat Key, Florida in 1979. He died on June 24, 1992 in Washington, DC. Dorothy Clarke Patterson died September 30, 2007.
Patterson's nephew, Joseph Medill Patterson Albright, son of his older half-sister Josephine Patterson Albright (1913–1996), married former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Another older half-sister, Alicia Patterson (1906–1963) founded Newsday.
The estate of Dorothy Clarke Patterson made one of the ten largest charitable bequests in the United States in 2008. The bequest to create the Patterson Foundation was estimated to be $225 million. unlike many large donors, she left few guidelines for the gift.
Patterson married Adirondack author Barbara McMartin in January 1968. The couple divorced in 1976.