The Tom Patterson Years

Hiding Press is honored to present our first collaborative publication, The Tom Patterson Years, in conjunction with the Jargon Society and book designer Jonathan Greene. The Tom Patterson Years is the latest addition to the Jargon Society's legendary book series, and the first published installment in an autobiographical trilogy. The protagonist is the author, the city is Atlanta, and the year is 1977. Patterson paints a vivid picture of the city's bohemian scene at a pivotal, energized moment in its history. The narrative follows his trajectory as a regional journalist, small-press publisher, and budding arts writer over seven years, and it details the beginnings of his involvement with outsider art. Anecdotes of a lively personal life form the thread connecting a series of engaging, sometimes hilarious stories about poets, performers, artists, culture mavens, and distinctive characters with whom the author became acquainted. Some of these individuals and groups have remained obscure, while others have attained enduring fame or notoriety (the Sex Pistols, the B-52's, Bruce Hampton, Saint EOM, Howard Finster). Equally important to the story's cultural timeline are artists Bob Tauber and Mark Smith, publisher/editor Fred Brown, poet Jonathan Williams, writer and arts administrator Laura Lieberman, pioneering art dealer Judith Alexander, and artist/folklorist Fred Fussell. The book's title, which Patterson uses satirically, was supplied by the musician Bruce Hampton, a key figure in the narrative.