On Nov. 5, Governor Mark Sanford presented Patterson with the Order of the Silver Crescent, South Carolina’s highest honor for volunteer and community service. The letter from Sanford noted Patterson’s work as a theatre director and college professor. The proximate reason for the award is Patterson’s volunteer work on staging the “Honoring Valor” event organized by the South Carolina State Guard. “Honoring Valor” was the first-ever celebration to honor a state's recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for bravery. The event took place in September in Columbia’s new Convention Center.

On Nov. 13, the South Carolina Theatre Association honored Patterson with a Lifetime Achievement award at its business meeting in Spartanburg. In accepting the award, Patterson recognized the life-changing effect teachers can have on their students, dedicating his award to the memory the late L. James Wathen, one of Patterson's undergraduate teachers at the University of Florida.

Since his retirement from USC, Patterson has completed a textbook, Stage Directing: The First Experiences, which was published by Allyn & Bacon earlier this year. He continues to direct at regional colleges and universities and is working on a second book—a textbook for prospective theatre educators in the public schools.

11/04