Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison (b. Patricia Kennely March 4, 1946, Brooklyn) is an American author of nonfiction books and science fiction/fantasy novels. Most of her books are part of her series The Keltiad. She exchanged marriage vows with Jim Morrison in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony in June 1970. Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister, the couple signed a document declaring themselves wedded. Although handfasting, like other religious ceremonies, is not legal unless the appropriate State paperwork is filed.

She later changed her legal name to include Morrison's name, and Morrison addressed letters and poems to her as "Patricia Morrison" and "my wife, Patricia". Kennealy discussed her experiences with Morrison in her autobiography Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison, and in an interview reported in the book Rock Wives.

Kennealy attended St. Bonaventure University for two years, majoring in Journalism. She later transferred to Harpur College (now known as Binghamton University) where she graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1967. Kennealy has worked as an advertising copywriter, receiving two Clio nominations. She was one of the first female rock music critics, and was editor-in-chief of Jazz and Pop magazine when she first interviewed Jim Morrison in January 1969. After the interview they began a correspondence, became friends and later lovers. She is a Dame of the ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolmitani, a High Priestess in a Celtic pagan tradtion and a member of Mensa.

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison wrote a book about her years with Jim Morrison, Strange Days: My Life With And Without Jim Morrison. She served as an advisor on Oliver Stone's movie, The Doors, and played a small role in the film, as the High Priestess who marries the Jim and Patricia characters. 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. In the film her character is referred to as a "Wicca Priestess", however Kennealy-Morrison identifies as a Celtic Pagan, not a Wiccan.

Selected Bibliography

Series

• Keltiad
  • Blackmantle
    • Blackmantle (1997)
  • Keltiad
    • The Copper Crown (1985)
    • The Throne of Scone (1986)
    • The Silver Branch (1988)
  • Tales of Arthur
    • The Hawk's Gray Feather (1990)
    • The Oak Above the Kings (1994)
    • 3 The Hedge of Mist (1996)

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