Changes

==Author and educator==

==Author and educator==

Patterson taught for more than forty years, mostly at [[Crane High School (Texas)|Crane High School]] in Crane, an [[oil]] [[boomtown]] south of [[Odessa, Texas|Odessa]]. He also taught in three other small towns in southwest Texas: [[Marfa, Texas|Marfa]] in [[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]], [[Sanderson, Texas|Sanderson]] in [[Terrell County, Texas|Terrell County]], and, his last assignment, [[Sierra Blanca, Texas|Sierra Blanca]] in [[Hudspeth County, Texas|Hudspeth County]].<ref name=ppatterson/> His best-known pupil in the field of Texas history in Crane was the [[Journalism|journalist]] and [[Western (genre)|western]] novelist [[Elmer Kelton]], who died a year after Patterson. Kelton with great emotion said that all of his writing talent had been developed by his [[Mentorship|mentor]] Patterson and without Patterson there could have been no Kelton.<ref>Elmer Kelton exhibit, [[Museum of the Desert Southwest]], Crane, Texas</ref><ref name=ekelton>{{cite web|url=http://www.ranchmagazine.com/index.php/Around-the-Country/|title=Gary Cutrer, Kelton Rides on Up the Trail|publisher=''Ranch Magazine'', September 1, 2009|accessdate=April 5, 2014}}</ref>

Patterson taught for more than forty years, mostly at Crane High School in Crane, a [[petroleum]] boomtown south of [[Odessa, Texas|Odessa]]. He also taught in three other small towns in southwest Texas: Marfa in Presidio County, Sanderson in Terrell County, and, his last assignment, Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County.<ref name=ppatterson/> His best-known understudy in the field of Texas history in Crane was the [[journalist]] and western]] novelist Elmer Stephen Kelton (1926-2009), who died a year after Patterson. Kelton with great emotion said that all of his writing talent had been developed by his mentor Patterson and without Patterson there could have been no Kelton.<ref>Elmer Kelton exhibit, [[Museum of the Desert Southwest]], Crane, Texas.</ref><ref name=ekelton>{{cite web|url=http://www.ranchmagazine.com/index.php/Around-the-Country/|author=Gary Cutrer|title=Kelton Rides on Up the Trail|publisher=''Ranch Magazine''|date=September 1, 2009|accessdate=April 5, 2014}}</ref>

Between his high school graduation and college enrollment Patterson was a [[cowboy]]. This background spurred his success as a folk humorist and teller of [[tall tale]]s. His sharp wit is reflected in all of his works of literature. He received the Founders' Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[American Cowboy Culture Association|Cowboy Symposium]] sponsored by the [[American Cowboy Culture Association]] in [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]], Texas. He was an active member and past president of the [[Texas Folklore Society]]. He was affiliated with the [[West Texas Historical Association]].<ref name=ppatterson/>

Between his high school graduation and college enrollment Patterson was a [[cowboy]]. This background spurred his success as a folk humorist and teller of tall tales. His sharp wit is reflected in all of his works of literature. He received the Founders' Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[American Cowboy Culture Association|Cowboy Symposium]] sponsored by the [[American Cowboy Culture Association]] in [[Lubbock]], Texas. He was an active member and past president of the [[Texas Folklore Society]]. He was affiliated with the [[West Texas Historical Association]].<ref name=ppatterson/>

Patterson's best-known book, ''Crazy Women in the Rafters: Memories of a Texas Boyhood'' (1976), is an account of growing up on a [[ranch]] near Upland, the first [[county seat]] of Upton County.<ref name=ekelton/><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4030994-crazy-women-in-the-rafters|title=Crazy Women in the Rafters: Memories of a Texas Boyhood,  University of Oklahoma Press|publisher=Norman, Oklahoma: [[University of Oklahoma Press]], 1976, 242 pp.; ISBN 0806112808|accessdate=April 5, 2014}}</ref>

Patterson's best-known book, ''Crazy Women in the Rafters: Memories of a Texas Boyhood'' (1976), is an account of growing up on a [[ranch]] near Upland, the first [[county seat]] of Upton County.<ref name=ekelton/><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4030994-crazy-women-in-the-rafters|title=Crazy Women in the Rafters: Memories of a Texas Boyhood,  University of Oklahoma Press|publisher=Norman, Oklahoma: [[University of Oklahoma Press]], 1976, 242 pp.; ISBN 0806112808|accessdate=April 5, 2014}}</ref>