Talk:Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Marriage challanged
In this aeries of edits added text challenging the validity of the account of the "marriage" currently described in the article. This was reverted by. In this Teahouse postthe same editor challenged the sourcing of that account here. It does appear that the account here is currently sourced only to a primary source, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's autobiography Strange Days. If there is any question about the matter, Independent and reliable sources should be found and cited. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 18:14, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Questions/Suggestion Regarding Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's Page.....
Regarding Kennealy-Morrison's page:

"As editor-in-chief of Jazz & Pop she first interviewed Jim Morrison of the rock band The Doors in January 1969. After the interview, they began a correspondence, became friends and later lovers. She claimed in her autobiography that she and Morrison exchanged marriage vows in a Celtic handfasting ceremony in June 1970.[2] Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister,[3] - according to her memoir - the couple signed a document declaring themselves wed.[4] Although handfasting, like other purely religious ceremonies, is not legal unless the appropriate State paperwork is filed, she later changed her legal name to include Morrison's name, and Morrison addressed letters and poems to her as "Patricia Morrison" and "my wife, Patricia".[5]"

I attempted to add two sentences to Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's Wikipedia page in order to clarify a couple of basic facts regarding Kennealy-Morrison's claims regarding her "marriage" to Jim Morrison. Not as attempt to slander or portray Kennealy-Morrison as dishonest but the truth is this particular Wikipedia page is presenting unproven claims as fact.

Please know that my goal is to be fair to both Jim Morrison and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, the fact that I am bringing this your attention is not an attempt on my part to be malicious toward Kennealy-Morrison, but the statements included in her page and the tone of it made me uncomfortable. I am hoping you will hear me out.

The Presbyterian minister whom Kennealy-Morrison claims presided over her "marriage ceremony" to Jim Morrison has never been publicly or independently identified and has never, according to my research, publicly confirmed performing a wedding ceremony between Morrison and Kennealy-Morrison, nor have any of the individuals Kennealy-Morrison claims to have as witnesses to the "handfasting".

This page seems to be based on statements made by Kennealy-Morrison and Kennealy-Morrison alone, via her memoir, her now-defunct website, various interviews, Facebook posts and her blog "Mrs. Morrison's Hotel".

The letters that came addressed to "Patricia Morrison" and where Jim Morrison refers to her as "my wife, Patricia" have never been produced in order to be authenticated and have never been presented publicly as a means of proving her claims of being Jim Morrison's rightful spouse.

Jim Morrison's last will and testament is well-known and it is well-known that he left "everything" to Pamela Courson and named Morrison's two siblings as the beneficiary should Courson have died three months after Morrison (Morrison also declared himself "unmarried" in the first draft and in the final draft of his will).

Also, Jim Morrison's "death benefits" card was auctioned off a few years back. It was dated and signed on October 2, 1970 by Jim Morrison and Morrison declared himself "single" and named Andy Morrison, his younger brother, as the sole beneficiary, four months after Kennealy-Morrison claimed that they were married in front of an ordained minister and witnesses.

link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/2474064/Jim-Morrisons-death-benefits-card-to-be-auctioned.html

The reader comes away with the impression that Kennealy-Morrison was Jim Morrison's legal wife and seems to imply that she was his "secret spouse and real true love" and based on facts, like The Doors' touring schedule versus Kennealy-Morrison's "Strange Days" timeline and various formal, legal documentation, that does not appear to be accurate, or it at least appears to be open for dispute. Surviving members of The Doors, Jim Morrison's former body guards and former friends and colleagues of Kennealy-Morrison herself have publicly disputed Kennealy-Morrison's claims, basically saying that Kennealy-Morrison is exaggerating the true nature of her relationship with Jim Morrison. Kennealy-Morrison does not appear to have a relationship or any connection to Jim Morrison's family and in the interviews given by Morrison's father and siblings they have never acknowledged Kennealy-Morrison as an acquaintance and certainly not as Morrison's wife or widow. Kennealy-Morrison has never challenged, legally or publicly, the statements made by those who have publicly, and in print, debated her claims.

"They declared themselves wed." No. Kennealy-Morrison alone has declared the two of them wed and Jim Morrison never publicly acknowledged Kennealy-Morrison and never identified her as his wife.

In a first-draft of his will, which was notarized by his attorney Max Fink, Jim Morrison did, however, refer to Courson as his "only companion in life" although the two spent time living apart and were never legally wed.

Two of the external links provided for this page are sources of information that, again, are in the complete control and only contain statements made by Kennealy-Morrison and no one else. "Mrs. Morrison's Hotel" and another blog of Kennealy-Morrison's, "Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Livejournal".

Since information about the alleged minister and wedding witnesses have come from only one source, Kennealy-Morrison, and since readers are pretty much being asked take Kennealy-Morrison at her word regarding the letters and gifts that Morrison is supposed to have given to her (I phrase it that way because none of these items have been authenticated or proven to actually be from Morrison) and that, for reasons known only to Kennealy-Morrison, she never presented her minister, her witnesses, all of the letters she claims to have from Morrison where he, according to Kennealy-Morrison, repeatedly and in writing acknowledges her as his wife to a court or a judge to have herself declared Jim Morrison's spouse or widow - shouldn't the section containing external links at least offer one or two reasonable rebuttals to her claims? If out of nothing more than accuracy and fairness?

Especially when the sources contain contradictory statements from Kennealy-Morrison herself (Victoria Balfour's 1984, "Rock Wives" book is one example, where Kennealy-Morrison states that she was aware that Jim Morrison did not take the handfasting "too seriously" and that the ceremony was symbolic only to her) not long before doing a cameo in the film "The Doors" and then writing and promoting her memoir "Strange Days"?

The only thing that is clear is that Kennealy-Morrison had deep feelings for Jim Morrison and that it appears that there was some sort of romantic friendship between them for a period of time. Is there a way to include a clarifying statement, obviously not an insulting or hurtful statement, that indicates to the reader that while Jim Morrison and Kennealy-Morrison had some sort of relationship, her claims of being in a long-term relationship with and married to Jim Morrison, receiving love letters from him where he addressed them to "Patricia Morrison" and referred to her as "my wife" and receiving jewelry and other gifts from him is something Kennealy-Morrison claims to have happened but that these claims have not actually been proven? (Kennealy-Morrison is the only person who can provide this proof but has chosen, for whatever reason, not to for almost 50 years.)

I was told that my changes were rejected because, "...your addition consisted of a completely unsourced paragraph on a clearly controversial matter about a living person."

What about a completely unsourced, or a one-person-sourced, paragraph that is controversial to a deceased person who is no longer here to speak for himself?

This is very long-winded, thank you for taking the time to read it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JDMAVkwd (talk • contribs) 21:45, 7 April 2018 (UTC)
 * , I have removed the obviously unreliable self-published sources and trimmed the article to be more neutral. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  22:05, 7 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I have removed some of the inappropriate tone. The documents in question were vetted by Harper's lawyers when the author published Strange Days; they had to, as there were copyright issues with the estate. The material was also gone over by Jerry Hopkins when she still wanted anonymity. None of the bio information that was tagged with "claimed" is self-published - it was also in all the Harper and mainstream press bios. This is a BLP, and relevant policies apply. - CorbieV  ☊ ☼ 18:02, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

The above information is incorrect that the "documents in question" were vetted by Harper's lawyers. Patricia's book is self published and when someone self publishes they are essentially the publisher and they assume all the legal responsibilities. It would be Patricia Kennealy's lawyers role to vet her information and she could ignore legal advice if she wanted to paint her narrative a certain way and risk a lawsuit. Paltryforhire (talk) 04:58, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

It is not correct lawyers would need to vet a claim that Patricia considered herself still married to Jim Morrison based on the handfasting ceremony she asked him to participate in. The documents in question could have been shown in the book such the signatures of witnesses. If they existed, Jim Morrison's estate could have been shown letters addressed to Patricia calling her his wife. Their unwillingness to sue at will doesn't prove her version of events is credible to them. The families who run the estate stay out of the press. Even if Jim called her his wife in a letter, that would not make them married or give them common law status which he actually had with his long-term partner Pamela Courson. She was buried in his name and she was willed his entire estate. Jim did write on his will that he was single as he never did legally marry Pamela despite them applying for marriage certificates. Patricia's own autobiography is clear that she and Jim didn't meet even a dozen times. Her story is insightful, exciting, and interesting yet is one-sided account. Unfortunately as Jim Morrison was dating many women in the period in question and some he downgraded to just friends. Paltryforhire (talk) 05:26, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Cleanup, sourcing, BLP issues
Added several third-party sources. There are others, as well, but these are the ones I could find without excavating the basement to see if I still have copies in boxes, or rebuying books I've let go of. Now the only things that are primary are uncontroversial biographical stuff like where she went to school, and her official bios for that are also on mainstream presses - Harper, et al, that vetted it all with legal. Recent vandalism SPA activity has grossly misrepresented this BLP subject's choice to self-publish some of her very recent novels (after the publishing industry cut all mid-level fiction authors and made self-publishing, eBooks and starting one's own publishing houses the only viable options for many). Her nonfiction and earlier fiction were all on mainstream presses, and all the writings about Jim Morrison were on mainstream publishing houses. The first publication of that material was in No One Here Gets Out Alive, when Jerry Hopkins vetted it, and then in Break on Through, where Riordan, Prochinsky and their publishers (and lawyers) did the same. There are other authors as well, but this is now more thoroughly cited than most BLPs. - Corbie</b><b style="color: #006E0D">V</b>  ☊ ☼ 19:23, 15 June 2018 (UTC)


 * It is not true that publishers vet the author's versions of events as most of the information in question is simply one woman's opinion. She can have the opinion she is marriage to Jim Morrison even after lost contact. Why would the estate sue her or anyone making a paternity claim? There would be no point to waste their time or money.


 * Edits must have sources so why not wait until you find the material in question before making the edit based on your memory? Also it is best to quote sources rather state POVs as facts. There is nothing in your archives that will change the fact that Patricia took Jim Morrison's last name over 2 decades past his death. It is misleading to not specify these details as Jim did not ever know her as Patricia Morrison nor is there any documentation that he thought of her as his wife. It is a one-sided account by a journalist who admitted in Paltryforhire (talk) 05:36, 16 June 2018 (UTC)


 * In no way am I disrespecting Patricia Kennealy who is an intelligent woman and I'm sure she would like her bio here to have clarity not omissions or vast exaggerations. You have taken out every one of my credible edits with hostility. There is no libel in my edits as you stated on my talk page. If you disagree, please state your case. Paltryforhire (talk) 05:39, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

One clarification on my comment above about Harper: Strange Days is on Dutton/Penguin (Penguin Publishing Group (there have been corporate mergers since then), and Riordan and Prochinsky's book is on HarperCollins. Neither book is self-published. Paltry, I don't know if you either do not understand libel laws, or are pretending you don't. Real publishers understand them, and Wikipedians have to, as well. - <b style="color:#44018F;">Co</b><b style="color: #003878;">rb</b><b style="color: #145073;">ie</b><b style="color: #006E0D">V</b>  ☊ ☼ 19:49, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Birth Name
Her birth name is Patricia Kennely, pronounced Kennealy (Keh-NEE-lee). She later changed the spelling because, as I believe she said in one of these bios, she was tired of people mispronouncing it. Her earliest publications, writing and editing Jazz and Pop, are under that name. If you read the article, this is sourced to her bios in Blackmantle and Strange Days, and I'm pretty sure the original spelling is used in Riordan and NOHGOA as well. I'll add the sources the lede later, since a few people seem confused by this and determined to change it rather than read the sources. - <b style="color:#44018F;">Co</b><b style="color: #003878;">rb</b><b style="color: #145073;">ie</b><b style="color: #006E0D">V</b>  ☊ ☼ 17:59, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Recent edits
It's not just "vandals" and "fanzines" who express that Kennealy's claims are dubious. Musical journalist Stephen Davis has expressed in his book that her version of Morrison doesn't seem to be recognizable to anyone but her. To me it seems a lot like all the supposed "reliable third party sources" are pretty much people taking her at her word. As Davis points out in the book, she hasn't been able or willing to show any of the letters she claims Morrison sent to her.★Trekker (talk) 22:12, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
 * The letters and poems were shown to, and vetted by, the authors of No One Here Gets Out Alive, to Riordan, and the authors of the other third-party sources used herein. They were also vetted by the attorneys of those authors' publishing houses, and the presses that Kennealy-Morrison eventually published Strange Days on. Attorneys had to do this due to copyright concerns, as Morrison's and Courson's parents currently hold the dual copyrights to his estate, which includes all his writings. No one who has letters, writing and drawings from Morrison is allowed to publish them without their permission unless the works are collaborations; legally, they have been told they all only own the paper that the materials are written on. Most of this has been discussed and resolved above. Photos of some of the documents are in books, and have at times been available on the web. Be aware that this is a BLP, and that BLP concerns also apply when living persons are discussed in the Morrison article. Any defamatory content will be removed. That text by Davis is laughably wrong and filled with sensationalistic inaccuracies. "Voodoo rite"? That alone disqualifies him as a source.


 * Additionally, you need to use accurate edit summaries. You blanked content and removed third party sources, falsely claiming they were "selfsourced spam". You did this on multiple articles which could be considered targeted harassment of a BLP subject. - CorbieVreccan ☊ ☼ 22:19, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

Details of death
On 22 July, 2021 a confirmed family member posted on Facebook - in a friends only post - that Ms. Morrison has died. There have been very few details shared. While there has been discussion and, of course, speculation, and some websites have posted variations on the Facebook posts, as of now neither official details, nor an obituary have been published by the next of kin. So, while we can confirm she has died, we can't be posting any details - including the date - until there is something official in an WP:RS source. - CorbieVreccan  ☊ ☼ 21:35, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

Again, July 23 is the day one of the friends-only messages was posted on Facebook. This date has been been picked up by some sources, such as some Science Fiction author sites, as her date of death, but it is incorrect. Anyone writing that they've communicated with family members should know better than to be posting publicly at this juncture. Please respect the family's privacy, and the deceased's wishes, and wait for an official obituary before putting in an exact date. Thank you. - CorbieVreccan  ☊ ☼ 21:57, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

The LATimes obit has the 21st. I'm going with that as RS as it looks like they're the only published source so far who actually did due diligence, including speaking with her family. As of right now all the others, including The Times, look to just be repeating the leaked social media posts. - CorbieVreccan  ☊ ☼ 22:54, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

"Spouse" in infobox
Jim Morrison and Patricia were not married, they had a handfasting ceremony that was not in any way legally binding, to put into the infobox like here implying that they were married until his death is misleading at best. ★Trekker (talk) 03:02, 13 December 2023 (UTC)