“There is no greater agony 
than bearing an untold 
story inside you.”
Maya Angelou

There is a great deal of wisdom in these inspiring words of author Maya Angelou, yet I know, from having read his book, All Things Beautiful, that Pat Maguire would respectfully disagree. No greater agony? I’m sorry, but Pat knows a thing or two about coping with deep agony. The reason I share Angelou’s quote here is because for most of us, her words are on-target. Many people I know hold untold stories inside themselves, and no small number of them struggle with the belief that they have no viable way of sharing their stories.

Danish author Karen Blixen wrote, “All sorrows can be borne if you tell a story about them.” There is no doubt that writing about the traumas in our life can be quite therapeutic. The act of putting our story on paper can be a significant step in the healing process, yet some may ask Why bother?

American poet Sean Thomas Dougherty addressed this question when he said, “Why bother? Because right now, there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words.”

When Pat shared his story with me a couple of years ago, I told him straight-up, “You need to write your story.” I paraphrased Dougherty’s words to underscore why I would suggest he do so. Apparently, many others told Pat the same thing. So when I saw him at Java Beach in the spring, and he told me he was just about finished writing it, I asked him to send me the manuscript and I would edit it for him. This evening, just five months later, we are celebrating the publication of All Things Beautiful with a “book launch” event at Java Beach Café on Judah Street.

Even after writing the manuscript, Pat wasn’t sure he wanted to publish it. He thought it was too private. His friend, Caeli, threatened that if he didn’t publish it, she would. Pat surprised her by handing her the manuscript. The published book is Pat’s story, but Caeli rewrote it so that it’s in the third person — she is telling Pat’s story… in his words… in his style of writing. Even author Oscar Wilde seemed to understand Pat’s reservations about publishing his own story. Wilde wrote, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Honestly, Pat didn’t need a mask. His story, even in his own words, is brutally honest. For readers, however, the fact that they are hearing Pat’s story told by Caeli in such a kind, compassionate way, gives the book a touch of magic.

The words of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Wallace Stegner, explain the need for Pat to write his story. Stegner wrote, “We write to make sense of it all.” And even then, even after writing the entire story, making sense of everything that has happened to us requires more than just writing it down. For Pat, it was his strong faith in Jesus Christ that guided him through the dense fog of despair and into the light of His glory. 

Some readers might be taken aback at Pat’s writing style. Rather than expressing himself in grammatically perfect, well-manicured sentences and paragraphs, Pat writes in brief thoughts interspersed with ellipses (three dots). Those ellipses indicate that there is more to the story than what’s been said, and in many cases, much more to the story. I must agree with author Neil Gaiman who said, “If you write with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. So write your story as it needs to be written.” Without a doubt, Pat writes with such assurance and confidence. His writing style works. 

Pat has never said this to me directly, but having read his manuscript more than a dozen times, and knowing Pat as I have come to know him in the past two years, I’m confident that he can relate to the writing experience of C.S. Lewis who said, “I never exactly made a book. It’s rather like taking dictation. I was given things to say.” I’m fairly certain this was Pat’s experience, too.  

For those who might feel inclined to write their own story, I again refer to the wisdom of author Neil Gaiman. He wrote, “Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there will always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that — but you are the only you.”