TR Kirkpatrick
chapter 1: origin Story
Professional mariner, sailor, writer, endurance runner, connoisseur of whiskey and oysters by a campfire.
TR Kirkpatrick was born and raised spending time between Southern Appalachia and the Chesapeake Bay. Born in West Virginia to a line of Scotch Irish Presbyterian storytellers and writers, most of his childhood was spent there and moving between Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Among the mountains and streams he formed an interest in the wilderness and the folk tales that inspired his storytelling.
Yet on his mother’s branch of the tree he descended from Watermen, in which they spent their summers on the rivers and tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay where from the salt in his blood his interest in boats took hold.
chapter 2: Coming of Age
Kirkpatrick left home to join the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. His first day of training was 9/11 which charted him on a course to serve with a Marine Infantry Battalion as a front line medic based out of Camp Pendleton, Ca. and eventually landed him in the invasion of Iraq. While in country he kept a correspondence with his community bringing the war to his hometown in which he was encouraged to keep writing.
Long nights in the desert with a red lensed light reading sea literature stirred in him old longings from his watermen ancestors to sail away from the conflict across warm equatorial seas. On the journey home across the Indian and Pacific Oceans he learned to sail by devouring how to books and sea stories, so that when he arrived at Pearl Harbor he was able to bullshit his way into renting a sailboat for four days of beating about.
Since that first sail, boats and their workings, with a heavy dose of writing have provided a sense of healing from having witnessed the tides of war. Throughout the rest of his service Kirkpatrick restored and lived on a 40’ wooden sailing ketch in which upon discharge he sailed from San Diego to Charleston, a journey that provided its own challenges, trauma, failures and successes, but that ultimately led him through a transition into civilian life and has inspired his first major work.
chapter 3: The books
Settling in Charleston while living on his boat at anchor, TR Kirkpatrick met his love and started his work towards earning a degree in English Literature and Creative writing, eventually moving to Beaufort to study at the desk of Ellen Malphrus, his writing mentor. Editor of the school publication The Pen and head of the writing club he began to hone his craft focusing his thesis of war veterans in transition to home, touching on his own experiences.
After graduation the couple moved to New Zealand where he further worked on his writing, while earning an income in boat building.
chapter 4: The Grind of the sea
Looking for a career in which he could support a family and still maintain his writing Kirkpatrick found himself back to sea, this time working as cook on a tug bound from Seattle to Honolulu, then on to the Aleutians and coastal towns of Alaska. Writing off watch and at home, which they now made in the mountains of Western North Carolina, he found that more and more the maritime career began to take precedence over his writing as he worked his way up through the hawse pipe until he was working as a mate on tugs up and down the East Coast, from New York to Bermuda and the Chesapeake Bay.
After five years of tugs, feeling the need to work in an industry that aligned with his values of protecting the environment and natural resources, Kirkpatrick switched to work for an academic research institute in Virginia where he ran Research Vessels before going ashore to an administrative desk job.
chapter 5: Writing
Now with two kids, living in Virginia, Kirkpatrick feels the tides changing again and is ready to finish the writings he started. His focus taps into literary fiction to better dive deeper into character development as none are exempt from experiencing the human struggle. His overall work intends to span various forms of media as stories of overcoming life’s challenges arise.
My Why…
Because struggle is the universal foundation of our story, and our stories take meaning when told to the world, that we might see ourselves defined anew through them. So that we might heal. And so too know and feel each other more closely.
Community…
Small towns, veterans, survivors, enthusiasts, crews, they are all a part of community, and each with its own inspiring story to be told, and wisdom gained.
Self…
Deepening the well, and building the intuition to draw from it, focusing on health, meditative mindfulness, and an inner ear to be able to develop my story. Ever seeking the common universal thread to relate it to other stories.