Pat would love to read for your book club Thursday Jan 22 2015. contact kip@kipmorrison.com

PEEING ON HOT COALS
A New Memoir by Pat Montandon

Pat Montandon's life is defined by her impassioned desire to be independent from the “traditional” view of marriage and a woman's place in society.  She was an early pioneer of the Women’s Movement and, in 1970, founded The Name Choice Center to inform women of their right to keep their own name after marriage. In 1984, Montandon designed The Banner of Hope, a mile-long, red silk memorial inscribed with the names and ages of children killed in war, which was first presented in the Kremlin at an International Women's Congress. The Banner was highlighted in opening ceremonies at the United Nations, unfurled on the Great Wall of China, and in 2005, wrapped a school in Beslan, Russia.

Montandon has been honored with awards from Turkey, El Salvador, The People's Republic of China, India and Norway, and she received the Russian Federation’s Medal in Memory of Anne Frank.  She is the author of six non-fiction books, including How to be a Party Girl, The Intruders, Celebrities and Their Angels, Making Friends, the first Russian/American co-publication, Whispers from God: A Life Beyond Imagining, and Oh the Hell of it All.

Montandon's new memoir, Peeing On Hot Coals, leads readers on a journey from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to the highest circles of San Francisco society.  Born dirt-poor at the start of America's Great Depression in the country's most devastated territory, Montandon carved a unique path through life that took her around the world more than 37 times and into San Francisco's most elegant quarters. She is also a character in Armistead Maupin’s renowned Tales Of The City.

The book opens with vivid descriptions of young Patsy Lou's fundamentalist Preacher Dad, her strict, repressive Bible Belt mama and her eight siblings.  With little formal education, Patsy Lou learns about the world through her direct experiences and her fearlessness, as her family makes its way across the United States and back in search of a livelihood. An accidental childhood injury to her genitals shapes her attitude towards sex but opens the door to a desire for a career and an irrepressible taste for adventure.

As Patsy Lou grows up, she embarks on a modeling career, and rejects the narrow teachings of her childhood in favor of a determined embrace of modern life. Patsy marries young and chafes against the limits of wifehood -- once again she must forge her own path in order to find fulfillment.  With humor and vivid language, Montandon looks back at her early years and recounts a story that is part American history, part personal confession, and totally engrossing.
What writers are saying about Pat Montandon and Peeing on Hot Coals:

“Pat Montandon's charm, decency and trademark spunk shine through on every page of this genuinely heart-tugging and beautifully written memoir.”—Armistead Maupin, best-selling author of Tales of The City

"The writing is stunning. It's funny and, moreover, poignant, insightful. I'm blown away."  —David Sheff, best-selling author of the memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction.