PATRICIA B. GOULD
P O Box 231
Congress, AZ 85332
928-427-3040
pbgould@juno.com
December, 2009
I was born and raised in Springfield, VT and graduated from SHS Class of ‘57. My husband and I were married there in the Methodist Church in 1957. Three of our four children, a daughter and two sons were born there, our youngest son was born in Claremont, NH. We have eight grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.
My husband Bob worked for Fellows Corp in North Springfield, VT for 28 years and retired in 1992. We owned Gould’s Redemption Center in Bellows Falls, VT for ten years, from 1984 until 1994, when we closed it and moved to Arizona. I worked at a funeral home in Phoenix for several years and then moved to Congress. I worked in Wickenburg for several businesses before I found work at the Wickenburg School District as Food Service Director. I retired from there in June 2002. My husband passed away in 2004
I have always been interested in my ancestry and over the years I had gathered many interesting facts about the Blish family. I published my Blish genealogy, covering more than 200 years, in 1992, continuing on from where a distant cousin, Matthew Rhodes Blish, left off. It was at this time that I decided I had enough information left of my genealogy search to write a book so I started putting it together that same year.
Abraham led a very interesting life and I decided that I would document his story for my family. I went to Plymouth, Duxbury and Barnstable, MA, on several different occasions to search the Libraries and Museums and talked to a number of helpful people and continued to research and write about him, as well as many of the other interesting people living in New England in the 1600’s, and before I knew it I had written a novel. It was full of interesting facts and stories about the people who founded our country, the Pilgrims and the Puritans, as well as those who followed closely behind them.
I finished “Abraham’s Journal - The Life and Times of Abraham Blish, 1616-1683" in December, 2001. Many of my family and friends told me that I should have it published because it was very informative and interesting to read. After contacting several publishers and realizing how long it would take for them to publish my book, I decided to find some professional help. I joined The Society of Southwestern Authors, Tucson, (SSA) and met many wonderful members who helped me with editing, printing and ISBN numbers, etc., and formed my own Publishing Company. I self published my 568 page novel in January 2003. The results has been very rewarding for me. To date, I have sold almost 1,000 copies to friends, family, libraries, independent bookstores and at book signings.
After I retired, the ‘writing bug’ really started biting me. I became interested in local history and found Charles P. Stanton to be quite a character. In fact, I couldn’t find anything good about him. He was a very interesting person to write about, and the exact opposite of Abraham Blish. I gathered up all the facts that I could and spent the next year writing. I self published “The Irish Lord - Charles P. Stanton” in 2005. I have sold almost 900 copies to date.
I self published my third book titled, “For Safe Keeping” in 2007. This historical novel is fiction but is based on several true facts that I had gathered from old timers here in Congress. I have sold 750 copies to date.
In April, 2005, I formed the Congress-Wickenburg Chapter of SSA, (The First Chapter of SSA formed outside of Tucson.) because I didn’t like driving to Tucson to the SSA meetings alone each month. At our first new chapter meeting we had 15 people and now we have 35 people who receive an email or postcard from us each month. We meet at the Wickenburg Art Club on the Second Sunday of each month at 1:30 PM. Dues are $20 annually. In 2008 we merged with the Hassayampa Writers' Club and hold our meetings together. I urge all who are interested in writing to attend our vey informative meetings.
Below you will find a list of my accomplishments and social activities that I have been involved in over the years.
Thank you for logging onto my web site, I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in ordering one of my books. Join me again soon because I may have another short story on my Story Page.
Patricia B. Gould
patriciabgould@gmail.com
P O Box 231
Congress, AZ 85332
928-427-3040
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:
Society of Southwestern Authors, Congress-Wickenburg Chapter - President 2005 - 2009
Society of Southwestern Authors, Tucson, AZ - Member 2002 - Present
Hassayampa Writers Club - Founder - 2005- Present
Congress Public Library, Congress, AZ – 1998 - 2004 - President 2001 - 2003
Our Board received “2002 Best Library Board Award in Arizona
Congress Public Library, Congress, AZ – Secretary/Treasurer 1998 – 2001
North Phoenix Rotary Club, P O Box 7156, Phoenix, AZ – Member 1996 – 1997
Wickenburg Rotary Club, Wickenburg, AZ – Member 1994 – 1996
(First Woman to ever visit this club, 1988)
Bellows Falls Rotary Club, Bellows Falls, VT – (First Woman) Member 1988 – 1994 –
(First Woman) President 1992 –1993
Connecticut River Revolving Loan Fund Committee, Springfield, VT – Loan Officer 1993-1994
Great Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce, Bellows Falls, VT- Member 1984 – 1994
Treasurer -1985 – 1991
Citizen Diplomat to USSR - 1988 – 1991 Traveled with the Bridges for Peace Organization
Visited Russia and Estonia in October 1988 – Sponsored by Bellows Falls Rotary Club
Bellows Falls Area Development Corp., Bellows Falls, VT- 1989 – 1991 – Secretary 1990
Vermont Retail Grocers Association, Rutland, VT – Member 1984 – 1993
Vermont Redemption Centers Association, Montpelier, VT – Member 1987 – 1993
Springfield High School Alumni Association, Springfield, VT – Board Member 1982 – 1984
Lifetime Member since 1957
Right to Read Program, Springfield, VT Public Schools – President - 1972 – 1973
Rainbow Girl, Masonic Temple, Springfield, VT - 1955 – 1957
Girl Scout, Springfield, VT – 1950 – 1953
NOTARY PUBLIC: Windsor and Windham Counties, Vermont – 1972 – 1994
NOTARY PUBLIC; Maricopa County, Arizona – 1997 – 2001
HOBBIES: Blish Genealogy, Writing, Reading, Counted Cross Stitch, and Traveling
AWARDS: Received Paul Harris Fellow Membership from Bellows Falls Rotary Club 1996
Rreceived The 2001 Achievement Award from the Wickenburg, AZ Business & Professional Women Organization