William Penn Patrick (March 31, 1930 – June 9, 1973) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and fraudster. He was the owner of Holiday Magic, Leadership Dynamics, and Mind Dynamics. Patrick was a proponent of the sour grapes philosophy, and has been widely quoted as stating: "Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it."[4]
Patrick sought out the Republican nomination for governor of California, in 1966.[6] Patrick alleged that a pollster, Mervin Field, had accepted money to influence a poll in the campaign.[7] Mervin Field sued Patrick for libel, for damages of US$4 million, and was awarded US$300,000.[7] Patrick finished in 4th place in the primary election with 1.87% of the vote and lost the nomination to Ronald Reagan.[8]The New Republic described Patrick's campaign strategy as that of "out-Reaganing Ronald Reagan".[9] In 1967, Patrick formed a fundraising group to run for Thomas Kuchel's Senate seat.[10] Patrick was later nominated for Vice President of the United States, in 1967,[11] by the California Theocratic Party.[12]The Los Angeles Times referred to Patrick as the "strangest politician".[13] He was mainly popular among ultraconservative and ultra right political circles in California.[14]
William Penn Patrick died on June 9, 1973, at age 43, in the crash of his privately owned P-51D Mustang[19][24] near his farm at Clearlake Oaks, California. He was flying the plane at the time; after making a low pass, he pulled up steeply, stalled, and entered a spin from which he did not recover. Although he was a certified pilot, he had only 154 hours of flight time in the P-51D, and only about four hours over the preceding three months.[25] He was flying with Christian George Hagert, 30, director of Holiday Magic of Helsinki, Finland, who also died in the crash.[26]
^Parkinson, Judy (2000). From Hue & Cry to Humble Pie: Curious, Bizarre, and Incomprehensible Expressions Explained. Adam Hart-Davis, Foreword. Michael O'Mara Books. p. 153. ISBN0-7607-3581-6.
^Staff (May 26, 1966). "Coast Candidate In Harlem to Ask Advice on Watts". The New York Times. p. 36.
^ abStaff (July 24, 1970). "Pollster Gets $300,000 in Libel Case". The Washington Post. pp. Section: General.
^Nofziger, Lyn; Gaylord B. Parkinson; William E. Roberts; Stuart K. Spencer; Gabrielle S. Morris; Sarah Lee Sharp (1980). Issues and Innovations in the 1966 Republican Gubernatorial Campaign: Interviews. Bancroft Library Regional Oral History Office, Governmental History Documentation Project. pp. Page 8.
^Kopkind, Andrew (August 27, 1966). "Brennan v Tigar". The New Republic.
^Staff (June 24, 1967). "2d Rightist May Try for Kuchel Seat". The Washington Post.
^Kilzer, Lou (July 18, 1999). "Desperate Measures Network of Behavior Modification Compounds Known as Teen Help Has Straightened Out Hundreds of Defiant Adolescents, But Its Methods Aren't For the Faint-hearted". Rocky Mountain News. E. W. Scripps Company. "The first of the genre psychologists call "large group awareness training" was the Leadership Dynamics Institute..."
^Simon, Jane Fitz (July 5, 1988). "The Video Salesman Entrepreneur Sees Gold Mine in Selling Informational Videotapes Door-to-Door". The Boston Globe.
^Staff (July 16, 1973). "Battling the Biggest Fraud". Time. pp. 2 pgs. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. William Penn Patrick, a former mentor of Turner's, was charged last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission with bilking some 80,000 people out of more than $250 million through his Holiday Magic cosmetics and soap empire.
^ abc84 F.T.C. 748Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, IN THE MATTER OF HOLIDAY MAGIC, INC., ET AL. ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO ALLEGED VIOLATION OF SEC. 5 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT AND SEC. 2(a) OF THE CLAYTON ACT, Docket 8834., Complaint, Jan. 18, 1971, Decision, Oct. 15, 1974.