Author’s Badger spirit inspires nursing gift

Best-selling author James Patterson admits he’s been taken over by Badger enthusiasm, and that’s translated into a significant gift for the School of Nursing.

Patterson’s wife, Susan, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW–Madison, and she is the daughter of rabid Badger fans, Patterson says. “I have become a massive Badger fan in all ways — in terms of the academics the school has always fostered, the great spirit you hear from people who went there or whose kids are going there now and, on another level, the athletics. I follow the football and basketball teams very closely.”

While speaking at a June 15 campaign event, UW–Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin announced that a gift from James and Susan Patterson will establish the Lorraine and O.B. Solie Nursing Scholars Fund in honor of Susan’s parents. Nursing students who plan to pursue their doctorates in nursing will be eligible for $10,000 a year in scholarships. Additional money will be deposited in an endowment to ensure future scholarship funds.

Nursing, like teaching, is one of those categories the best and brightest students need to consider, James Patterson says.

“Nursing is not on people’s radar the way it should be,” he says. “Hopefully, contributions like this and others you’ll get will shine a light on it. It’s something a lot of men and women would find very, very rewarding.”

With 39 New York Times best sellers, Patterson tops the newspaper’s list of best-selling authors. His Alex Cross detective series includes “Along Came a Spider” and “Kiss the Girls.” He also wrote “Women’s Murder Club,” and his first young adult novel, “Maximum Ride,” spent 12 weeks in the top spot on the New York Times chapter book best-sellers list. He recently established Read Kiddo Read, a Web site to encourage reading.

The author’s childhood babysitter gave him an early respect for nursing. Coming from a troubled home, she became a dedicated emergency room nurse. “The passion that she would show for the profession — I always loved talking to her,” he says.

James Patterson’s mother-in-law, Lorraine Solie, earned her nursing degrees at UW–Madison, became head nurse at Wisconsin General Hospital, the forerunner to UW Hospital, and taught in the School of Nursing. She lives in Rockford, Ill. O.B. Solie, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art and design from the university, died in 2006.

“I hope the fund will inspire people to go into nursing,” Susan Patterson says. “We’ve all been in situations where rely on those contacts with nurses to assure you, to care for you and to make you feel good. … Nurses don’t get the respect they deserve.”

Because he is close to the Solie family, James Patterson says that he loves to be able to honor his in-laws as well as contribute to UW–Madison. “Philanthropy has always been part of my life,” he says. “You help out as much as you can. It’s part of the makeup of my family and the Solie family as well. They’ve always been the kind of people who want to pitch in and help.”

James Patterson made national headlines with his Page Turner Awards, which honor schools, libraries and bookstores “doing a great job spreading the joy of reading.” He’s also established a need-based scholarship program at Manhattan College, where he earned his undergraduate degree.

The UW Foundation, working on behalf of the UW–Madison, helped the Pattersons craft a fund they felt emotional about, James Patterson says. “What’s important to me is that we are choosing situations where the contributions will be used wisely,” he adds.