Patricia St. John

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Patricia Mary St. John (born April 5, 1919 in Southampton , England ; † August 15, 1993 in Coventry , England) was an English nurse and missionary in Morocco and author of Christian children's and youth literature .

Life

Patricia St. John was the third of five children of missionaries Harold and Ella St. John. She was born in England shortly after her parents returned from South America . She spent most of her childhood in England, but at the age of seven she also saw Switzerland , where she moved with her mother and siblings for a year after her father re-embarked on the overseas mission. In her second book, Traces in the Snow , she claims to have processed many memories from this time in Rossinière near Montreux .

During the Second World War, Patricia St. John trained as a nurse at St. Thomas Hospital in London . After the war she worked for several years as a housemother in her aunt's boarding school in North Wales (Clarendon Girls School, St. George, Abergele ) until in 1949 she decided to follow her brother Farnham to Morocco , who was a doctor there. In Tangier she worked as a nurse in the mission hospital, later went to the Rif Mountains for a few years and lived in Chefchaouen . She also traveled to Lebanon , Turkey , Rwanda, and Ethiopia during the 27 years she served in the mission . In 1976 she returned to England, where she spent the last years of her life in Coventry. Here she got involved in the local Christian children's aid organization Global Care , which she co-founded and of which she was temporarily president. For Global Care, she traveled to Romania and Ethiopia, among others, to help there. As a result of the trip to Ethiopia, the book Mehrit - What love is capable of was written .

plant

Patricia St. John wrote her first book, The Secret of Wildenwald , while still at home in England, at the request of the boarding school children for an exciting story. Parallels to their own life can often be found in their stories. Her book Tracks in the Snow is set in a fictional place in Switzerland , modeled on the area in which Patricia herself spent several years as a teenager. Hamid and Kinza and other books are set in Morocco , where she worked for years. She wrote most of her books for children, but she also wrote a few biographies and historical novels .

Her books The Secret of Wild Forest , Traces in the Snow , Hamid and Kinza , The Locked Garden and Where the River Begins were published by directors such as Johannes Osberghaus and broadcasters such as HBO and ERF as radio plays and films . The story of tracks in the snow also became known as an animation series on television under the title Die Kinder vom Berghof . Michael Pritchard filmed The Secret of Wild Forest and Tracks in the Snow in 1980 as color films ( Tanglewood's Secret and Treasures of the Snow ), the latter he filmed mostly in Switzerland ( Rossinière ).

Publications (selection)

  • Tracks in the snow ("Treasures of the Snow", Scripture Union 1950)
  • The secret of Wildenwald ("The Tanglewoods' Secret", 1948)
  • Hamid and Kinza ("Star Of Light", 1953)
  • The locked garden ("Rainbow Garden", Scripture Union 1960)
  • Where the river begins ( "Where The River Begins", 1980)
  • Lucy's Discoveries ("The Mystery of Pheasant Cottage", 1977)
  • Surprise at dawn ("The Secret Of The Fourth Candle", 1960)
  • God is so great ("Would You Believe It?")
  • The Silver Road ("Three Go Searching", Moody Publishers 1966)
  • Flecky and Flauschi ("The Other Kitten", Scripture Union 1984)
  • My friend Frisky ("Friska My Friend")
  • Rainbow in the storm ("Nothing else matters")
  • The trail leads to Jerusalem ("The Runaway", also "The Victor")
  • Escape to freedom , original German title: One ran away ("Twice Freed", 1970)
  • Mehrit - What love is capable of ("I Needed a Neighbor")
  • Jesus' parables told to children
  • Adventure prayer. How do i talk to god ("Prayer Is An Adventure")
  • Only the sky is the limit: The story of the Rwanda Mission ("Breath of Life: The Story of the Rwanda Mission"; German translation: Hänssler Verlag , 1978)
  • Harold St. John - Traveler in the matter of God ("Harold St. John: A Portrait")
  • The autobiography ("Patricia St. John Tells Her Own Story")

Radio play adaptations

Broadcast production

Comic adaptations

  • Rescue in the night: Two picture stories based on “Tracks in the Snow” and “The Cape” (from “Surprise at Dawn”) by Patricia St. John. (Illustration: Gwen Gibson; German translation: Ingeburg Heidelmann; Verlag Bibellesebund, 1979)
  • Eliane as a detective: A picture story based on the book "The locked garden" by Patricia St. John. (Illustration: Gwen Gibson; German translation: Ingeburg Heidelmann; Verlag Bibellesebund, 1980)

Film adaptations

  • The secret of the wild forest (original title: "Tanglewoods' Secret", United Kingdom, 1980; German dubbing: Hänssler Verlag )
  • Tracks in the snow (Original title: "Treasures of the Snow", United Kingdom, 1980; German dubbing: Hänssler Verlag )

Media combinations from presentation book and text booklet for public lecture

  • No Darkness At All ("Star of Light", text adaptation: Rose-Mae Carvin, two-color illustrations: John Hertzler, 1960 Bible Visuals International / 2005 revised new edition with color illustrations)
  • Whiter Than Snow ("Treasures Of The Snow", text adaptation: Rose-Mae Carvin, two-color illustrations, 1962 Bible Visuals International / 2010 revised new edition with color illustrations by Debby Saint)
  • Secret In The Woods ("The Tanglewoods' Secret", text adaptation: Ruth C. Prideaux, two-color illustrations: John Hertzler, 1963 Bible Visuals International / 2012 revised new edition with color illustrations by Debby Saint)
  • Rainbow Garden: Elaine's Search For Joy (text adaptation: Rose-Mae Carvin, two-color illustrations: Frances H. Hertzler, Bible Visuals International, 1963 and unchanged new edition 2012)
  • Where The River Begins (text adaptation: Karen E. Weitzel, color illustrations: Vernon Henkel, 2011 Bible Visuals International)
  • Helen Frazee-Bower: Penny and the Christmas Star / Patricia St. John: How Turea Kept Christmas. Two Illustrated Stories (Illustrations: Frances H. Hertzler, 2017 Bible Visuals International)
  • Salvation in the South Seas: A Story of Fiji (text adaptation: Rose-Mae Carvin, illustrations: Frances H. Hertzler, 2018 Bible Visuals International)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patricia St. John: The Autobiography. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 5 2010, p. 38.
  2. ↑ Ibid., P. 52.
  3. ↑ Ibid., P. 51.
  4. ↑ Ibid., P. 71.
  5. ↑ Ibid., P. 237.
  6. ^ Website of the Children's Fund
  7. ↑ Patricia St. John: The Autobiography. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 5 2010, p. 274.
  8. ↑ Ibid., P. 267.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME St. John, Patricia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES St. John, Patricia Mary
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English missionary in Morocco and author of Christian literature for children and young people
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Southampton , England
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1993
Place of death Coventry , England