Students in Anne Lee鈥檚 鈥淲omen, Minorities and the Media鈥 course and Richard Lee鈥檚 鈥淢edia and Democracy鈥 course are assisting with research for a presentation about Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, who studied journalism at St. Bonaventure in the 1960s and had successful careers covering rock鈥檔鈥檙oll, developing advertising campaigns and writing novels.
Students in St. Bonaventure University鈥檚 six-week Francis E. Kelley Oxford Program at the University of Oxford鈥檚 Trinity College are contributing to research for a presentation at an academic conference.
Students in Anne Lee鈥檚 鈥淲omen, Minorities and the Media鈥 course and Richard Lee鈥檚 鈥淢edia and Democracy鈥 course are assisting with research for a presentation about Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, who studied journalism at St. Bonaventure in the 1960s and had successful careers covering rock 鈥檔鈥 roll, developing advertising campaigns and writing novels.
The St. Bonaventure presentation is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday at the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association鈥檚 Virtual Symposium.
鈥淚n the presentation, we plan to share Patricia Kennealy-Morrison鈥檚 extraordinary accomplishments, which are often overshadowed by her relationship with Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors,鈥 Richard Lee said. 鈥淲e also plan to explain how the foundation for her success came at a small Catholic university in rural Western New York.鈥
Kennealy-Morrison was editor of Jazz & Pop magazine and authored several books, including a memoir about her relationship with Morrison, and two fiction series 鈥 one science fiction/fantasy; the other, a collection of murder mystery novels. She died in 2021.
鈥淎s a writer, Kennealy-Morrison helped people take music journalism seriously,鈥 Anne Lee said. 鈥淎s a woman, she achieved success and earned respect in the male-dominated field of rock music.鈥
The two years Kennealy-Morrison spent studying journalism at St. Bonaventure played an influential role in her career.
鈥淩ussell Jandoli, then head of the department, was a role model and a teacher in the true sense of the word,鈥 she wrote in a blog post in 2008. 鈥淗e taught me how to think the story like a reporter and feel the story like a reader and write the story like a witness on oath and edit the story like a hanging judge. Without his influence, I would still have become a writer and editor, but not the writer and editor I became because of him.鈥
Later in her career, Kennealy-Morrison made visits to St. Bonaventure to work with journalism students. In 2008, she spoke at the Jandoli School鈥檚 Communication Day. Her visits led to lasting friendships with several faculty and staff members. She donated several of her books to the university, as well as a large jeweled Celtic cross that hangs outside the dean鈥檚 office in the Jandoli School of Communication.
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