Special By By Jonathan Farrell Jun 6, 2014 in Entertainment Novato - It is the end of an era, especially for local thespians in the San Francisco Bay Area as the news of the death of Renaissance Pleasure Faire and The Great Dickens Christmas Fair founder Phyllis Patterson was announced this past May. She died on May 18. It was that 'the-show-must-go-on' type of spirit that prevailed and was shared by all who worked with the Renaissance Faire and Born on January 25th, 1932, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Mildred Irene and Elden Carl Stimbert, it seems the theater was always in her blood. When the Stimberts moved to Memphis, Tennessee after graduation from Messick High School, Patterson attended at Memphis State College in the mid-1950s. While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Phyllis wrote and directed one of the very first broadcast television shows, 'Phyll’s Playhouse,' and was a DJ on “all-girl” radio station WHER. In 1956 she married artist Ron Patterson, who was stationed in Memphis as an officer in the US Air Force. The newlyweds then moved to Los Angeles, where Phyllis began teaching high school English and history in Culver City. As detailed by Dickens Christmas Fair and Red Barn Productions media relations representative Denise Lamott, in 1960, while expecting son Kevin, Phyllis and Ron created “Into the Woods,” a backyard drama-and-arts program. This was produced at the Patterson’s Laurel Canyon home in the Hollywood Hills. Phyllis’ irrepressible need for teaching was fulfilled by directing improvisational theater inspired by E. E. Cummings, Carl Sandberg, and Commedia dell’arte. Her eager nine-and 10-year-old students were encouraged to invent their own creation myths and nonsensical plays. Having taken first place at a children’s theatre competition at the Glenn Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, members of her young troupe were so delighted by performing on a commedia wagon built for the occasion, that they besieged Phyllis with requests to “do that again!” In response, the Pattersons rented a local park called “Haskell’s Raskells Ranch” and enlisted Pacifica radio station KPFK to sponsor the very first Renaissance Faire in America on May 11th and 12th, 1963. Naturally, it was with this same home-spun grass-roots enthusiasm that begat the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in the early 1970's. As Patterson told this reporter in an interview a decade ago, the Dickens Fair came about from a theme party for the holidays to entertain friends at home. "I envisioned it as like a living 'Victorian Christmas card' and everyone got dressed up and had so much fun that they asked we have the party again the following year." That is how Yet before settling in the Bay Area, as Lamott explained, when Phyllis and Ron were invited to teach art and drama to youngsters at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in the mountains east of Los Angeles, Phyllis famously engaged her young students in writing and performing. She urged them to produce their own Native American creation myths, with boulders and pine trees as their stage set. Those early students remember her as breathlessly creative and inspirational, and credit her with opening imaginative vistas that resulted in many long-lasting careers in the performing arts. This creative enthusiasm for detail and to make things alive and fully present, When Garner responded to the news of Patterson's death, he said to this reporter, "Phyllis was a great lady, and truly one of the founders of all Renaissance Faires and similar 'interactive theater' events in this country." Lamott pointed out that, with the popularity of the yearly “Pleasure Faire” momentum building, the lingering echoes of the McCarthy era in those beginning days almost brought an end to the Renaissance Faire phenomenon. While it might be hard to imagine today, as Lamott explained, Phyllis found herself frequently dressing as a proper schoolteacher, her abundant hair primly confined in a bun, as she attempted to convince conservative county officials to approve the educational value of the Faire. She testified repeatedly and patiently at public hearings about the whys and benefits of colorful costumes, beards, handcrafts, acoustic music, and artistic freedom in the outdoors, introducing 1950s-style bureaucracies to the creative possibilities then manifesting in the early 1960s. Somehow, she always prevailed, said Lamott. Ingenious to the point of rascality, Lamott said when the Faire was denied permits on some pretense or other, Phyllis always found a way around the obstructions. Even, in 1966, said Lamott, Phyllis asked the American Film Institute to produce a documentary of the event so that she could open the gates with a ‘film permit’ (having all of the attendees became 'extras'). Phyllis was an unstoppable festival trailblazer; said Lamott along with a team of lawyers and talented staff members, she helped to create laws and ordinances allowing and regulating public gatherings in rural locations, setting precedents throughout California and the west. Also in 1966, noted Lamott, while expecting the birth of son Brian, the Pattersons expanded their event to the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area is where they eventually settled. China Camp (now a State Park) in Marin County was the Renaissance Pleasure Faire’s first Northern California location. It was nothing short of magical, with ethnic music groups and true gypsy artists encamped for weeks in the oak-and-bay forest. The event quickly outgrew that idyllic setting, and in 1971 moved to the old Satori Ranch at Black Point in Novato. Amid historic barns, hayfields, and oak-forested valleys, Phyllis and Ron began to host the educational dreamscapes that Phyllis seemed endlessly energized to organize and present, Lamott said. "She was a great lady," said music composer David Garner. He was a long time fair participant as an actor."And, he said, she was truly one of the founders of all Renaissance Faires and similar 'interactive theater' events in this country." Don Kellogg, courtesy of Red Barn Productions Today, the old Satori Ranch which was then referred to as Black Point Forest for decades while the Renaissance Pleasure Faire had its annual run, is now built up. What was once a deep cluster of trees, and open fields against a hillside have now been developed into a private golf course with large private estate luxury homes. What was once open and welcoming to the public along Highway 37 is no more. At its peak, the Renaissance Faire in Novato also gave the community workshops and performances venue opportunities that flourished in the landmark Red Barn. Hence the name of the Patterson family production company, 'Red Barn Productions. It was in this type of rural and creative environment as Lamott explained, where thousands of school-age kids came to the Faire Village mid-week for “Workshops in the Woods.” And, hundreds of thousands of patrons attended the Faires themselves, becoming Phyllis’ unsuspecting students of (an immersion theater) or living history, as they rediscovered seasonal rituals of mummers’ plays, parades, pageants, handcrafts and revelry. In interviews, said Lamott, Phyllis frequently said: “The Faire reminds us of simpler times, more in touch with nature and the earth.” This was at the heart of the Renaissance Faire that many in the Bay Area remember. "Phyllis' visionary work has had a wide and lasting cultural impact across America and abroad," Lamott said. "Activities that she introduced at the early Renaissance Pleasure Faires had a defining and still-visible influence on American culture and counterculture." She is survived by her two sons Kevin and Brian Patterson, her daughter-in-law Leslie Patterson and family, and her grandsons Andrew and Michael Patterson, all living in Northern California. They continue the Patterson tradition of the annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair. Her brother Vaughn Stimbert and niece Cindy Sands and family live in Memphis. Her niece Susan Bullock and family live in Virginia. Details about a memorial will be released later. For more information about Phyllis Patterson Phyllis Ann (Stimbert) Patterson along with husband Ron and others was the driving force behind the founding of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and the annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair held at San Francisco's Cow Palace each year. "There were some years we did not think the fair would go on, but somehow we managed," Patterson told this reporter some years ago, when writing about the Dickens Christmas Fair for the San Francisco Observer back in 2004-'05.It was that 'the-show-must-go-on' type of spirit that prevailed and was shared by all who worked with the Renaissance Faire and Dickens Christmas Fair events. Born on January 25th, 1932, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Mildred Irene and Elden Carl Stimbert, it seems the theater was always in her blood. When the Stimberts moved to Memphis, Tennessee after graduation from Messick High School, Patterson attended at Memphis State College in the mid-1950s. While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Phyllis wrote and directed one of the very first broadcast television shows, 'Phyll’s Playhouse,' and was a DJ on “all-girl” radio station WHER.In 1956 she married artist Ron Patterson, who was stationed in Memphis as an officer in the US Air Force. The newlyweds then moved to Los Angeles, where Phyllis began teaching high school English and history in Culver City. As detailed by Dickens Christmas Fair and Red Barn Productions media relations representative Denise Lamott, in 1960, while expecting son Kevin, Phyllis and Ron created “Into the Woods,” a backyard drama-and-arts program. This was produced at the Patterson’s Laurel Canyon home in the Hollywood Hills.Phyllis’ irrepressible need for teaching was fulfilled by directing improvisational theater inspired by E. E. Cummings, Carl Sandberg, and Commedia dell’arte. Her eager nine-and 10-year-old students were encouraged to invent their own creation myths and nonsensical plays. Having taken first place at a children’s theatre competition at the Glenn Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, members of her young troupe were so delighted by performing on a commedia wagon built for the occasion, that they besieged Phyllis with requests to “do that again!” In response, the Pattersons rented a local park called “Haskell’s Raskells Ranch” and enlisted Pacifica radio station KPFK to sponsor the very first Renaissance Faire in America on May 11th and 12th, 1963.Naturally, it was with this same home-spun grass-roots enthusiasm that begat the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in the early 1970's. As Patterson told this reporter in an interview a decade ago, the Dickens Fair came about from a theme party for the holidays to entertain friends at home. "I envisioned it as like a living 'Victorian Christmas card' and everyone got dressed up and had so much fun that they asked we have the party again the following year." That is how the Dickens Fair actually began.Yet before settling in the Bay Area, as Lamott explained, when Phyllis and Ron were invited to teach art and drama to youngsters at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in the mountains east of Los Angeles, Phyllis famously engaged her young students in writing and performing. She urged them to produce their own Native American creation myths, with boulders and pine trees as their stage set. Those early students remember her as breathlessly creative and inspirational, and credit her with opening imaginative vistas that resulted in many long-lasting careers in the performing arts.This creative enthusiasm for detail and to make things alive and fully present, Music composer David Garner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music referred to the Patterson vision as "live immersion theater." Garner like friend and fellow actor Robert Young both told this reporter that the aim of both the Renaissance Faire and the Dickens Christmas Fair was to give audiences an experience like no other.When Garner responded to the news of Patterson's death, he said to this reporter, "Phyllis was a great lady, and truly one of the founders of all Renaissance Faires and similar 'interactive theater' events in this country."Lamott pointed out that, with the popularity of the yearly “Pleasure Faire” momentum building, the lingering echoes of the McCarthy era in those beginning days almost brought an end to the Renaissance Faire phenomenon.While it might be hard to imagine today, as Lamott explained, Phyllis found herself frequently dressing as a proper schoolteacher, her abundant hair primly confined in a bun, as she attempted to convince conservative county officials to approve the educational value of the Faire. She testified repeatedly and patiently at public hearings about the whys and benefits of colorful costumes, beards, handcrafts, acoustic music, and artistic freedom in the outdoors, introducing 1950s-style bureaucracies to the creative possibilities then manifesting in the early 1960s.Somehow, she always prevailed, said Lamott. Ingenious to the point of rascality, Lamott said when the Faire was denied permits on some pretense or other, Phyllis always found a way around the obstructions. Even, in 1966, said Lamott, Phyllis asked the American Film Institute to produce a documentary of the event so that she could open the gates with a ‘film permit’ (having all of the attendees became 'extras'). Phyllis was an unstoppable festival trailblazer; said Lamott along with a team of lawyers and talented staff members, she helped to create laws and ordinances allowing and regulating public gatherings in rural locations, setting precedents throughout California and the west.Also in 1966, noted Lamott, while expecting the birth of son Brian, the Pattersons expanded their event to the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area is where they eventually settled. Ron died in Sausalito at age 80 in 2011. China Camp (now a State Park) in Marin County was the Renaissance Pleasure Faire’s first Northern California location. It was nothing short of magical, with ethnic music groups and true gypsy artists encamped for weeks in the oak-and-bay forest. The event quickly outgrew that idyllic setting, and in 1971 moved to the old Satori Ranch at Black Point in Novato. Amid historic barns, hayfields, and oak-forested valleys, Phyllis and Ron began to host the educational dreamscapes that Phyllis seemed endlessly energized to organize and present, Lamott said.Today, the old Satori Ranch which was then referred to as Black Point Forest for decades while the Renaissance Pleasure Faire had its annual run, is now built up. What was once a deep cluster of trees, and open fields against a hillside have now been developed into a private golf course with large private estate luxury homes. What was once open and welcoming to the public along Highway 37 is no more.At its peak, the Renaissance Faire in Novato also gave the community workshops and performances venue opportunities that flourished in the landmark Red Barn. Hence the name of the Patterson family production company, 'Red Barn Productions.It was in this type of rural and creative environment as Lamott explained, where thousands of school-age kids came to the Faire Village mid-week for “Workshops in the Woods.” And, hundreds of thousands of patrons attended the Faires themselves, becoming Phyllis’ unsuspecting students of (an immersion theater) or living history, as they rediscovered seasonal rituals of mummers’ plays, parades, pageants, handcrafts and revelry.In interviews, said Lamott, Phyllis frequently said: “The Faire reminds us of simpler times, more in touch with nature and the earth.” This was at the heart of the Renaissance Faire that many in the Bay Area remember. "Phyllis' visionary work has had a wide and lasting cultural impact across America and abroad," Lamott said. "Activities that she introduced at the early Renaissance Pleasure Faires had a defining and still-visible influence on American culture and counterculture."She is survived by her two sons Kevin and Brian Patterson, her daughter-in-law Leslie Patterson and family, and her grandsons Andrew and Michael Patterson, all living in Northern California. They continue the Patterson tradition of the annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair.Her brother Vaughn Stimbert and niece Cindy Sands and family live in Memphis. Her niece Susan Bullock and family live in Virginia. Details about a memorial will be released later. For more information about Phyllis Patterson visit the Renaissance Faire history pages at the Red Barn Productions web site. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Renaissance, renaissance faire, Great Dickens Christmas Fair, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area More news from Renaissance renaissance faire Great Dickens Christ... San Francisco San Francisco Bay Ar... Black Point Novato Novato California immersion theater