Patricia Coy: In Her Own Words

In the act and art of writing, both intellectual and instinctual reasoning coalesce in a medium that gives the writer a physical space to explore particular ideas in a personal way. That blank sheet of paper is a canvas waiting for the writer to take thoughts in hand, using the palette of the writer's life. My academic palette includes receiving an MFA in Non-Fiction Writing, working towards a Ph.D. in English Education, and writing a dissertation on the history of speech education for women in the U.S. My non-academic palette, at the moment, includes master gardening, walking my Golden Retriever and Maine Coon Cat, and remodeling my old home. --Patricia Coy

 

Patricia Coy as Remembered by Dissertation Director Fred Antczak

I'm very grateful for the chance to have known and worked with Patricia. For someone so soft spoken, she was a bright and determined student, whose intellectual agenda matched her personal convictions better than you sometimes see in academe. She loved learning, and although she was never quite comfortable with traditional views of two-sided argument, she was not shy about sharing her ideas. In losing Patricia, we lose a friend, a gifted teacher, a tenacious researcher, a wonderful writer. Her love for her daughter was everywhere, always apparent; caring for her well-loved pets and her masterly gardening played lively roles in deepening her joy in life. Her loss is staggering, but it simply throws into higher relief a life well and richly lived. --Fred Antczak

 

Patricia Coy as Remembered by Academic Advisor Anne DiPardo

Patricia could be quiet and introspective, almost to the point of shyness--until, that is, a matter of principle came into play. I'll always remember that look on Patricia's face as she prepared to take exception, and, on a few wonderful occasions that I had the good fortune to witness, to deliver a ringing protest. Perhaps the challenges she'd faced in her own life fueled her empathy for the disempowered, moving her to lend her often eloquent voice to their struggles. One semester Patricia was late for an evening course I was teaching in the College of Education--other students came straggling in before her, having just attended a public forum regarding cuts to various programs and services in our local schools. "And Patricia!" they kept exclaiming, talking over one another in their eagerness to tell the tale. It seemed Patricia had risen to her feet and suffered no fools, outlining in memorable words precisely what she thought of the idea of taking violins out of the hands of 4th graders. When she walked into our class a few minutes later, the room erupted in spontaneous applause. As Patricia's face registered embarrassment, pleasure, and puzzlement, I somehow understood that this was not the first time her convictions had seen her over and through her fears. I'd always known that Patricia's daughter was her first and foremost priority in life--but her care for her beloved Ria had a way of rippling out to all kids, becoming a larger concern for humane, challenging, and equitable opportunities for all. --Anne DiPardo

 

Patricia Coy as Remembered by Writing Center Director Carol Severino

Patricia will be remembered in the Writing Center especially as a teacher/manager, a writer, and a friend. She was dedicated to improving the Writing Center's space arrangements and aesthetics (I wish she could see the New Upscale WC) and the curricula. That's why she was always moving furniture and creating wonderful materials. She especially liked to work with students on writing that they would do only for themselves, not for courses. The Language Painting sequence of invitations she composed uses visualizations and dreams to invent ideas and generate text. Students loved these invitations and loved being tutored by Patricia as their evaluations testify. Patricia also composed the Welcome to the Writing Center Invitation that we use as an alternative to Talking on Paper and Self as Writer and many other handouts on organization and word choice that we have in our files. She revised the Writing Center Teachers Guide that I hand out to all new teachers. Administratively, Patricia was a genius. She developed our system of evening and Friday appointment records as well as improving the sign-up and attendance sheets. As a tutor and friend, Patricia was generous, compassionate, and fun and stimulating to be with and talk to. She was always involved in an ambitious writing or reading project, be it her dissertation on girls' rhetorical and forensic education, her thesis on coping with depression, her missives on coping with leukemia, or learning about the philosophy of science and the body and mind. It's so hard to believe that we'll never see her again, but her spirit will be kept alive in the Writing Center with the materials she created and the generous way we'll teach and tutor. --Carol Severino

 

Patricia Coy as Remembered by Professor Mary Trachsel

My strongest recollections of Patricia apart from my conversations with her in the hospital during her illness are of our talks about dogs. It's not always easy in an academic setting to find someone who shares my enthusiasm for animals. Patricia was just the person I most wanted to talk to when my dog Claire was hit by a car, and when I was making the decision to get my present dog, Buddy. She came to my office one day with a bag of goodies for Buddy shortly after he came to live with me. In the bag were some small stuffed animals--available for 25 cents apiece at the Crowded Closet, Patricia told me--and a hefty supply of boiled beef bones. Buddy is still chewing on bones supplied by Patricia. --Mary Trachsel

 

Patricia Coy: A Tribute by Writing Center Staff

My sense of Patricia is that she was a woman who appreciated beauty--beautiful animals, beautiful gardens, beautiful books, and a beautiful sense of style within the Writing Center's space, making sure that our small clutch of plants always stayed alive. And her sense of organization, I'm sure, stemmed from a sense of how beautiful order can be. And when she got sick, I was--like so many who were recipients of her medical reports--stunned by the gorgeous lucidity of her thoughts, coming as they did at such a harrowing time. --Marilyn Abildskov

I knew Patricia only as an acquaintance, but her understated and thoughtful approach to her Writing Center students was admirable. Her strength during her illness caused me to admire her even more. By reading her updates to the Writing Center, I was reminded of the courage and endurance required of everyone who must cope with a life-threatening illness. I hope that Patricia's writing will continue to provide insightful testimony to others who experience illness and loss. I also hope that we can preserve her memory by collecting these glimpses of her life. --Jen McGovern

Most of all, Patricia had a true passion for her work. Patricia's presence in the Writing Center never passed inadvertently, for she was always restless and gentle with all her colleagues and students. It is hard to know that the Writing Center has lost one of her most valuable staff, but it is harder to accept that such a wonderful human being, who still had a lot to offer, will not be with us anymore. --Carmen Mota

I didn't know Patricia well, but she always impressed me as extraordinarily organized and efficient--I know she single-handedly reorganized the Writing Center desk and all the various forms. I always read the prose poem she composed to serve as shutting-down instructions when I'm at the desk. --Jen Ryan

Selected Comments by Patricia Coy's Writing Center Students

I am sincerely thankful for the warm and useful help that I have had with my writing this semester. I am an older student returning to my studies and my ability to write correctly and fluently was a little rusted. My tutor, Patricia, not only greatly encouraged me, but was critically important in improving my writing skills. We worked on several different projects, mostly for classes, essays, critiques, etc. that were always in a hurry for a deadline.

There was an excellent fit between my educational needs and what Patricia had to offer. She is a graduate from the MFA program and I was enrolled in Non-fiction writing. My main reason for enrolling was to improve my English writing skills (my second language). Patricia helped me specifically with my assignments for my course. I found her input very helpful. She discussed the changes she recommended. She also gave me helpful hints on how to start thinking creatively and playfully before starting an assignment... Patricia was very encouraging and my self-confidence to write in English increased tremendously over this period. I learned a lot about grammar and sentence construction. It was done in a very practical way so that I will be able to remember it well.

Mostly what I have done was revise my essays or speech drafts for Rhetoric I class. Patricia helped me a lot to revise my drafts and I think I have learned many things while revising such as grammar, clutter, making it smooth, and so on. Especially Patricia and I worked on one essay a lot to submit to the Writing Center newsletter Voices. I guess just for that essay we revised at least four or five times, and I found these detailed revisions very helpful to get some ideas on writing well.

Since I was preparing for the TOEFL test, I needed to practice writing an essay within 30 minutes. When I started working with my instructor, Patricia, I could hardly come up with good examples to support my view. I wasn't able to finish writing an essay within the limited time either. As a consequence of lots of practice, by the time I took a real TOEFL Test, I felt very comfortable with the topic of the essay and the way I presented my view.

Patricia Coy: An Essay by Akihito Katsuo, former Writing Center student

I first met Patricia as a neighbor who lived just across the road. When I met her, she was walking Sophie, her big dog. I found out later that she was working at the Writing Center, when I was in my second year here in Iowa, as she had never told me that before. I was on the waiting list trying to find a spot available then, although the school year was halfway through. I was surprised when I saw her sitting at the reception desk in the Writing Lab. I became her student twice--once for two weeks that semester and another time all semester long in the spring of 2003. I visited her at her house last May, just before I flew back to Tokyo to visit my family, as I heard that she had been released and was staying with her sister. We had a nice conversation and she said that she was hoping to get back to work during the summer. I had no doubt at that time as she looked very good. It was the last week of August when I got the news. I could not believe it at all.

As a teacher, she gave her students a lot of freedom in terms of writing style. She encouraged students to be flexible. I learned a lot from her when I was her student during the semester. In her off time, she always seemed to appreciate nature. I remember that she sometimes jumped out of her garden to hand some vegetables and flowers to me and my guest. I'll never forget both her sophisticated tutoring as well as her warm friendship with me. --Akihito Katsuo

Patricia Coy: An Essay by Jean Walker, former Writing Center student

I first met Patricia at the UI Writing Lab in the Spring of 1999. I was just beginning to write and was taking an undergraduate course in Creative Nonfiction. My assignment for that course was to write about someone I knew, so I chose my grandfather.

Having a scientific background, I'd planned out, in organized form, what I was going to write:

1. His early years

a. His birth and growing up in England.

b. His parents.

2. ...

When I showed this outline to Patricia, she shook her head and said, softly, "No-no-no." She gave me a blank piece of paper, saying, "Put one word about your grandfather in the middle of the page and then branch out from that word with other words about him that come to mind. Then put that page aside, sit down at your computer, and start writing."

I had thought I did not know much about my grandfather, I thought I could not write without notes, I thought I could not be creative, but as a result of this exercise, I ended up with a personal portrait of my grandfather, that made him come alive to me and my family.

So I am extraordinarily grateful to Patricia for this lasting gift and I have related this story many times.

Through further sessions with her at the Writing Lab, I then got to know Patricia. I visited her at her house a few times and we laughed together and talked at length. She showed me her great garden, I met her beautiful dog, and she spoke very proudly and lovingly of her daughter.

She will not be forgotten.

--Jean Walker, 7/28/03

If you would like to add to or comment on Patricia's memorial, please contact the Writing Center at writing-center@uiowa.edu.

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