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Description
In this oral history, innkeeper, retired fireman, and prolific storyteller Pat Williams recounts his life and expresses his deep connection to Mt. Tam. Born in San Francisco in 1948, Pat grew up in a military family that moved repeatedly during his childhood and adolescence. Pat describes how after high school he joined the Navy which brought him back to the Bay Area, where he discovered his vocation for firefighting, but was then deployed to Vietnam. Following his discharge from the military, Pat returned to the Bay Area, enrolling in the fire sciences program at College of Marin. Pat discusses his career as a fireman in Marin County, including a six-month period in 1969 when he served as a fire lookout on Mt. Tam. He also discusses his family: his wife Colleen and their two daughters Jennifer and Tami (the latter named after Mt. Tam). While still with the fire department Pat began volunteering as an innkeeper at the West Point Inn, where this oral history was recorded, and Pat shares numerous entertaining stories - some true, others invented - from his years on the mountain.
Identifier
12C850D2-638E-41DF-9686-472279709691 2019.003.001
Subject
Barkley, Jennifer Civil rights leaders Civil rights movements College of Marin Dodge, Washington Evans, Charlie Fire Fire departments - Marin County Fire fighters Fire fighting Fire lookout stations Firemen Ghosts Homeless persons Inns Klu Klux Klan Larkspur Fire Department Military service Mountain biking Mt. Tamalpais Nature Naval personnel Oral history - Local business Oral history - Local government, police, firefighters Rippingham, Mary Jane Ross Valley Fire Department Storytelling Veterans Vietnam War West Point Inn Williams, Colleen Coleman Williams, Francis Williams, Patrick Yost, Gary
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