AUTHOR OVERCOMES LEARNING DISABILITY

He has a learning disability. He can't spell spell. But he can read. And he can write. He left school at age 16 in grade 8. He is 89 years old. In May he is launching the second book which he wrote and published.

At age 16 and having completed grade 7, St. Clair "Joey" Patterson left Hantsport in 1941 to support the war effort. But he was unable to join the Royal Canadian Navy. Instead he made three trips on S.S. GYPSUM PRINCE which carried gypsum to American ports. In 1942 he worked on a tug in Halifax harbour. In 1943 having joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve,  Joey served on convoy escort on Corvette HMCS ARVIDA in the North Atlantic. He was discharged from the navy in January 1946 and married Eudora Coldwell of Avonport.

Returning to civvy street, Joey took an automobile mechanic's correspondence course through the Royal Canadian Legion. His grandfather had taught him the basics of carpentry. With these experiences he had many different jobs.

But his life took an unexpected turn and gave him a new focus in 1961. Joey was the assistant custodian at Hantsport School when Principal Allister Clark asked him about ship building in Hantsport. Allister had moved to the town with Olive his wife. He knew nothing about the town's history but heard vague references to ship building. Joey thought it would be interesting to investigate the topic and started to talk to people about it.

This continued for years. When he worked and lived in Wolfville, he used the resources at Acadia library. He met Professor Jim Snowdon who was interested in paintings of locally built ships. And Joey, Eudora and family moved back to Hantsport.

Allister's question eventually resulted in Joey forming Tug Boat Publishing and on 2008 publishing Hantsport Shipbuilding 1849 - 1893. He has recently published Gypsum Royal Fleet, a history of GYPSUM KING, GYPSUM QUEEN, GYPSUM PRINCE. GYPSUM EMPRESS, GYPSUM EMPEROR, GYPSUM DUCHESS, GYPSUM COUNTESS, and GYPSUM BARRON. Many local people worked on those ships.

How did Joey do it?
To overcome his inability to spell, he developed his own dictionary. He looks up the words he can't spell in his two dictionaries and then writes the words in the dictionary he has compiled. Joey keeps that little book close at hand.

Joey's personalized dictionary. 

In the dedication in his second book, he credits many people who motivated him and kept him going. He describes Eudora as "the driving force".
And he states that he has had "tremendous luck" in finding material. Just one example involved his research on the disappearance of the ship NOVADOC and the men who refused to sail with her.

NOVADOC left Deep Brook, Annapolis County, with a load of gypsum bound for New York. From Gypsum Royal Fleet, p. 121 "She had a makeshift crew and was in need of repairs. The cover on the number two hatch couldn't be made water tight. Material to fix the hatch was being brought from Digby but the Captain said there was no time as he didn't want to lie over another tide. They would fix it on the next trip. The ship cleared Deep Brook on Saturday March 2, 1947, and sailed into a storm. She never returned. All hands were lost."

The majority of the replacement crew aboard NOVADOC were war veterans. Eight men signed off before the ship's final trip. One had a badly scaled foot. One has a feeling he should stay ashore. Two decided they needed a rest from the sea. One had been offered a position as oiler on GYPSUM KING. Another had his doubts. When he saw the ship's cat come down the gangway and leave the ship, he decided to stay where on shore.

Joey went to the Digby Museum to research NOVADOC.  A man who had lost two brothers on the ship had recently told the museum that he had material about the ship. Joey contacted him and found new information for his book.

In October 2013, Joey began recording the history of transporting gypsum from Nova Scotia to UA ports for his next book.

Joey's success as an author and publisher is possible with a combination of 99% hard work and 1% luck.

Gypsum Royal Fleet will be launched at the West Hants Historical Society on King Street in Windsor on Saturday, May 10, at 2 PM.