Patrick Quinlan (author)

This article is about the American writer and political activist. For other individuals with the same name, see Patrick Quinlan (disambiguation).

Patrick Quinlan

Patrick Quinlan is a critically acclaimed American author, political activist, fundraiser, and former Maine Green Independent Party candidate for Governor of Maine in the 2010 election [1]. In the fall of 2009, he informed the Maine Ethics Commission that he was no longer seeking election.

Biography

Quinlan was born in the Bronx and raised both there and in Yonkers, New York. He attended public elementary and middle schools, and Regis High School, a tuition-free Jesuit high school in Manhattan. As a teenager, he held numerous jobs, including working for years as a caddy. His father was an alcoholic, which had a profound effect on Quinlan's development as a child and young man.

Quinlan began his career writing grant proposals and press releases at Greyston Bakery and Greyston Foundation, where he worked for Bernie Glassman, helping raise millions of dollars to house homeless families and homeless people with AIDS. Later, Quinlan worked in public relations for the National Science Foundation.

Quinlan's crime thriller, Smoked, was published in the United States and Canada by St. Martin's Press in April 2006, and in the United Kingdom and many countries throughout the world by Hodder Headline in March 2006. It received worldwide critical acclaim, and has been translated into Portuguese, Italian and Dutch. Film rights were optioned in 2007, and again in 2009. His second crime thriller, The Takedown, appeared in May and June 2007, from both St. Martin's and Headline. His third crime thriller, The Drop-Off appeared in July, 2008, and his fourth, The Hit, appeared in June, 2009.

Quinlan is the co-author, with Blade Runner film star Rutger Hauer, of Hauer's memoir, All Those Moments, released by HarperCollins in May, 2007, and which was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

Quinlan has been featured or favorably reviewed in many publications, including The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Times of London, The Observer, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly. His writing has frequently been compared to that of Elmore Leonard, James Ellroy, and the movies of Quentin Tarantino.

Quinlan is known to be an avid traveler, and has visited some two dozen countries around the world.

Politics

In 2002, Quinlan served as campaign manager for State Representative John Eder of Maine, who at that time became the only Green Party member in the United States elected to a state house seat. Quinlan also served as a consultant to Eder's 2004 campaign, and as Eder's legislative aide at the Maine State House during 2004 and 2005. In 2009, Quinlan established an exploratory committee and began raising funds for a run for governor of Maine. Later, he withdrew, citing his recent divorce and need for personal time. In 2010, he worked with Ben Chipman on his successful run for State Representative.

Works

• Quinlan, Patrick (2006). Smoked. St. Martin's Press, Headline Books.
• Quinlan, Patrick (2007). The Takedown. St. Martin's Press, Headline Books.
• Hauer, Rutger; Quinlan, Patrick (2007). All Those Moments: stories of heroes, villains, replicants, and Blade Runners. Harper Entertainment.
• Quinlan, Patrick (2008). The Drop Off. Headline Books.
• Quinlan, Patrick (2009). The Hit. Headline Books.

External links

• Quinlan's official website
• Smoked at Google Books
• Review of Smoked at Tangled Web UK books website
• Promotional website for Smoked