In Remembrance

Patrick J. Morrison

From Madeline Puzo

Patrick came to Stanford as an international champion sprinter—only Tommy Smith (Gold Medal at the Mexico Olympics) had better times. Freshman year he was the co-captain of the freshman track team. Patrick came from London and sported a very short, modified Beatle haircut.

In the Spring Quarter, the morning of the meet against Berkeley when Patrick arrived to get on the bus he was tackled by upperclassmen with scissors who attempted to cut his hair. He kicked his way free and went to Coach Peyton Jordan who told him that if he did not cut his hair he would not be allowed to race. Evidently some alums were upset about his ‘long’ hair and had complained to the university. This was the first Patrick knew of the problem. He refused and walked away. Since he was an international star athlete it became news—global as well as local. Patrick was a very polite but also a very articulate young man and the press loved him. As trivial as a hair style might seem, Patrick became a symbol of resistance to a lot of us at Stanford.

From the Los Angeles Times

Patrick Morrison was born on November 16, 1945 in Cork, Ireland to Edmund Morrison, a merchant ships' engineer and Mary "Mamie" Hourihan, a painter. Patrick showed early promise as a sprinter. His family left Ireland when he was eleven and moved to London where his track career continued and he won The Amateur Athletic Association's star athlete award of 1965. While training for the Olympics, he received an athletic scholarship to Stanford University. He moved to California in 1965 and fell in with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, took up the blues harp and began painting. He studied painting with Nathan Olivera and Joe Oddo and was subsequently awarded a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. Patrick moved to Los Angeles in 1971. The 1980s were a fertile period in Patrick's career and he often traveled to Europe for exhibitions and commissions.

His passion for music, cinema and literature were prominent subjects in his work. Although passionate about painting, he was a devoted husband and father and always made dinner for the family. Patrick passed on December 20, 2013. He is survived by his wife Carey Kawaye-Morrison, their two sons, Brendan and Liam, his first wife Madeline Puzo, his sister Helen and her husband Donal Tully of Waterford, Ireland.