Taking Notice

Poetry. Patricia McNair's poems combine an earthy honesty with consistent alertness to the beauty of everyday life, especially in family and nature. Whether noticing the ordinary miracles of the suburban backyard, remembering her Oklahoma girlhood, or struggling with the difficulties of divorce and illness, she explores the resonances of her life in a voice which is humorous, comfortably familiar and uncomfortably direct. Patricia McNair (1927-2007) wrote poetry for more than forty years. A native of Oklahoma and a long-term resident of Michigan, she drew inspiration from childhood memories, family stories and the natural world. She was the mother of four and grandmother of eleven. She was an active exponent of poetry in the Saginaw Valley region of Michigan.