Roaring twenties A self-styled "hobo", Patric traveled extensively throughout the
Roaring Twenties. He worked sporadically as a journalist, and studied at a number of universities across the United States. In 1922, Patric was writing for the
American Insurance Digest. Universities he attended during this time included the
University of Michigan (1924–1925), the
University of Oregon, and that he had been expelled from eight schools in the course of his academic career. These and many other experiences are recounted in his nearly complete memoir manuscript
Hobo Years.
Depression era Blunderbuss Nearing the height of the
Great Depression, Patric studied writing and journalism at The
University of Texas at Austin (1932–33) Patric involved himself in campus politics, and he wrote a number of articles and editorial pieces (often under the pen name
Simon Legree) for the University newspaper named
The Daily Texan. Following a highly contentious student body election, Patric got into an altercation as well as
The Austin Statesman and
Austin Daily Dispatch newspaper articles of the time.
Libertarian views In 1940, Patric spent a few months touring the country in his automobile with the writer and
Libertarian political theorist
Rose Wilder Lane, from this time expressed similar deep concerns about governmental expansion and "the rise of the state's role in the lives of individuals" as
Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal struggled to help the nation recover from the
Great Depression.
WWII era National Geographic Patric was still writing and traveling extensively for
National Geographic while
fascism and tensions were on the rise in Europe. Patric wrote profiles on
Benito Mussolini's Italy and pre-war Czechoslovakia.
A Yankee Hobo in the Orient When war broke out in the
Pacific, Patric quickly reworked his
National Geographic Friendly Journeys in Japan material on Asian travel to fulfill the public's demand for more information on
Japan. The repackaged and expanded book became his most notable work. First published in 1943 by
Doubleday Doran, Inc. under the title
Why Japan Was Strong. The book was retitled
Yankee Hobo in the Orient for the British edition by
Methuen Publishing, and that title was used for subsequent editions. The edition of June 20, 1943, of
The New York Times featured a review of this work, stating that Patric displayed "qualities of good sense and poise and instinct for honest reporting sufficiently to give his excellent account of Japan's 'common man' the favorable reception it deserves." In the book's second month of sales, it had climbed as high as seventh place in a list of nationwide best sellers. The September 1945 7th edition of the book (published now by the author's own "Frying Pan Creek" publishing firm), was substantially revised and illuminated by the author, adding detailed maps and numerous illustrations to accompany the significantly expanded narrative. By November 1945,
Yankee Hobo had grown from the 1st edition's 22 chapters in 320 pages, to 45 chapters in 512 pages in the 8th edition. Writing in a foreword, the author described the pains taken in the layout and printing of his still-$2.50 hardcover edition, stating that due to its "especially fine typography and sturdy binding, it is the author's belief that
physically, this book has become one of the best for the money ever published." Released only months after the August 1945
atomic bombings of Japan and
Japan's surrender, the book now contained lengthy parenthetical asides conveying the author's thoughts on those events, as they pertained to his original work. In the book and subsequent interviews, Patric emphasized his opinion that the most important point in the book was that a person should seek to reduce "by whatever peaceful means his ingenuity may devise, the power of government –
any government – to tell him what to do." In accordance with this doctrine, Patric supported his deliberately modest lifestyle by directly selling his reprinted and personally-inscribed copies of the book from person-to-person, and town to town throughout most of his later life:
Wartime production Patric's wartime contributions to the ''
Reader's Digest'' stirred controversy, and in May 1943 he was invited to give testimony before the
House of Representatives' Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries
executive hearings, in which he contended that
labor union rules were having a negative impact on
shipyard productivity during
World War II, and made controversial recommendations to address them. ==Mid-later life==