Patricia Lee Lewis papers

Patricia Lee Lewis (formerly Pat Lewis Sackrey) was born and raised in Texas. After working as a business manager for ten years and having two children (a son, John Henry Sackrey, and a daughter, Ponteir Sackrey), she earned her A.B. in Anthropology from Smith College in 1970. Lewis' early political activism (circa 1969 to 1974) focused on women's issues, during which time she co-founded the Valley Women's Center in Northampton, Mass. and Everywoman's Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. From 1972 to 1974, she served as Director of Continuing Education for Women at the University of Mass. From 1974 to 1976, Lewis worked in the Mass. Office for Children, as Supervisor of Community Development for Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire Counties. In 1977, she held the position of Consultant to the Superintendent of the Belchertown (Mass.) State School for Retarded Citizens, and from 1977 to 1981 she worked as Rural Development Specialist for the Mass. Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Mass. Amherst. From 1975 to 1979, she served on Mass. Governor Michael Dukakis'Commission on the Status of Women. Lewis was a self-employed tree farmer from 1981 to 1983, and in 1983 was appointed Executive Director of the Hilltown Community Development Corporation in Chesterfield, Mass. In 1984, she was elected County Commissioner for Hampshire County, MA, which position she held until 1988. From 1991 to 1996, she served as District Director and Director of Marketing for Congressman John W. Olver. Galvanized and inspired after joining Pat Schneider's Amherst Writers and Artists Workshop in 1986, Lewis eventually went on to earn her MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Union University (1998). She is a Senior Partner in Amherst Writers&Artists, and a member of the Austin Writers League and the American Poetry Society. Her poetry, fiction and feature articles have appeared in journals, anthologies, and newspapers. She lives and works at Patchwork Farm Retreat in western Massachusetts, which she founded in 1992, where she leads writing retreats and workshops. She has also led retreats for writers in Indiana and in her home state of Texas, as well as in Scotland, Costa Rica and Mexico.