Professional Exchange Jan 14 event

The location is the Karsten Golf Clubhouse at ASU. It's just a tick east of Scottsdale (Rural) Road and south of the river. Here's the link http://www.asukarsten.com/location/

The host of the Jan 14 Private Files Exposed event is the Professional Exchange Club of Tempe. The website for the national group is

http://www.nationalexchangeclub.org/membership/information.htm

This is an international service club in the tradition of Kiwanis, Rotary and others. The Tempe chapter is bound to have some of the most interesting people in Tempe--you know Tempe, artsy, forward thinking, the valley's technocenter Tempe? Yeah, that Tempe.

It's a wonderful opportunity to meet some new friends and business contacts.

Scottsdale Detective Pete Salazar, whose role is featured prominently in A Sudden Shot, was given an award by the Scottsdale Chapter a few weeks ago. Click on the FaceBook page to see some photos of that event.

As I understand it, the Professional Exchange clubs have a particular interest in law enforcement, making the Private Files Exposed event a natural for them. If there's one thing we've got in A Sudden Shot, it's a good look at law enforcement and some real standout officers.

TO RSVP: edwinharvey at earthlink.net The restaurant appreciate headcounts, 15 dollar flat fee limited menu. Otherwise, event is FREE.

Another "Private Files Exposed" Event!

A few slots are available for the next Private Files Exposed event, which will be lunch Thursday January 14 in Tempe. I'll be showing the photos that couldn't go in the book...and diving into my private files for stories that have to be--shhh!-- told in person.

This presentation always gets a lot of oohs and ahs and gasps.

The Tempe Professional Exchange Club is the host. They will need your RSVP if you'd like to come because space is limited. They've got a flat fee fifteen dollar menu--ALL OF THAT GOES TO THE RESTAURANT! None of it goes to me! You do not need to have read the book to enjoy this event.

Books will be available there, if you want a signed copy, (hey! they only cost half as much as the food does!) but lunchers are under no obligation or pressure to buy. The books are available as a courtesy only--the presentation is entertaining all on its own.

If you want to hang with the cool kids, Thurs Jan 14 is your chance. You might make some nice new friends!

Contact Ed at edwinharvey at earthlink.net if you're interested in attending. He's the guy who's going to have save you some chow. Or you can always drop me a line at asuddenshot at gmail.com and I will pass it on to him.

KPNX sees Paul at home

Dec 27-KPNX tonight

After a couple of rough days, Paul rallied. Today he hosted KPNX and showed off his new head. Watch tonight at 10 pm on Channel 12!

Mike Watkiss with Paul!

Here's the link. I don't know if I've done it properly. I'm sure KTVK will straighten me out if I haven't. Look at that round head! Woooohoooo!

Serial shooter victim Paul Patrick back in hospital

by Mike Watkiss

Posted on December 23, 2009 at 5:38 PM

Updated today at 5:38 PM

******

azfamily.com's Mike Watkiss revisits Paul Patrick, the man who became the face of the victims in the serial shooter case.

Share this article:

The staples are titanium...and so is the guy!

Paul survived his skull re-attachment, to the intense relief of gathered family members. He is in a lot of pain but still found the strength to host KTVK's Mike Watkiss bedside. A camera wasn't far behind and soon Paul was telling everyone for himself how determined he is to survive and thrive. It played in the 5:00 newscast. I'll try to put up a link to the interview if I can figure it out.

Mike Watkiss called Paul Patrick "the toughest guy I know." I couldn't agree more! What Paul has gone through and keeps coming back for more is nothing short of amazing.

It's hard to get used to seeing him with the "round" head. I've seen the "divot" for so long, a full skull takes some getting used to! Imagine how it feels to Paul?! Oh, almost forgot to say, it takes 160 titanium staples to keep that patch of skull in place. Whew!

Fairy Dust Needed Today for a Frozen Skull

Long after the prison doors clang shut, the headlines vanish and the lawyers have moved on to other cases, the crime itself is still right where it always was--at the epicenter of a heartbroken family. Paul Patrick was shot by a serial killer in Phoenix in 2006. That wretch is now behind bars. I sometimes cross paths with the excellent lawyers who put him there, when I walk the halls of justice in downtown Phoenix. They are on their way to other courtrooms with other cases and so am I.

But when Paul Patrick walks, it is down his own hall, with the help of two professional aides. And a camera nearby to record it. Because it is a momentous event, Paul taking a few steps. The 12 gauge shotgun in Sam's hands blasted away a good deal of his torso. The eighty or so lead pellets still inside Paul have a tendency to move around and cause him a great deal of trouble. Earlier this year, roving pellets brought him so near death there was only one chance to save him, and that was by attempting to remove half his skull. His mother--whose vigilance is the only thing that has kept him alive on many occasions since the day he was shot--said she just wasn't ready to say good-bye to him yet, so she authorized the almost ridiculously desperate procedure. Against all odds, Paul survived. He has been living without his skull for 9 months now. There is just skin covering the right half of his brain. Any stray elbow or falling nightlight could do him in forever.

Today, the neurosurgeons have decided it's finally time to put the skull back. There is no need to explain how risky this procedure is, I think it speaks for itself. Will it bond? will it swell? will it get infected? will it still fit?

Today is a day people can "light a candle in a dark room" for Paul. Justice and the news machine have moved on. But Paul is still living the same case. He has no choice. I cannot do what I fervently desire, and that is to sprinkle fairy dust on the hands of the surgeon, on the freezer that has kept his skull for almost a year, on the tubes and machines that will keep him alive for the next few days. What I can do is leave no stone unturned in finding people who will blow him a kiss, cheer him on, tell him a joke. Anyone who wants to root for Paul today or send him a Christmas wish can do so here or at the FaceBook page. He and his mother will see the messages, I promise.

Paul's would-be killer has expressed a lot of remorse. He's doing his time, which will be for the rest of his life. But what I learned from this trial is that those things are a tiny part of crime-fighting. Paul fights the crime every day, every minute, for the rest of his life, too. Sam's remorse can't help him now. But your love and well wishes can.