If you search for “Patricia McDonald” you will soon discover one thing: there is not just one Patricia McDonald. There are several, and they are all radically different from one another. One writes psychological thrillers that reach the top of the bestseller lists in France. One is married to a famous comedian. Others appear in death notices, local news items, or old family records, each with a life worth remembering on its own.
With common names, this is more common than people think, and Patricia McDonald is a prime example of why it is worth digging a little deeper before assuming you have found your man.
The Bestselling Suspense Novelist
Patricia MacDonald is the most publicly known name amongst several pseudonyms of the American author of psychological suspense novels. Born in 1949 and brought up in Greenwich, Connecticut, she made her name with tightly plotted thrillers in small-town settings, the sort of places where a quiet street conceals a lot of darkness under the pavement.
Her Path to Writing
Prior to becoming a novelist, she was a book editor and edited a soap opera magazine in New York. That pacing and storytelling sensibility is evident in the novelist’s work, which generally moves quickly and keeps readers guessing until the late chapters.
A Bigger Following Overseas
Funnily enough, a very loyal audience for her books has developed in France, where she is considered a best seller. Books like I See You and The Girl in the Woods have been widely translated and sold in that country, on occasion even outselling what she can manage in the United States.
The Comedian’s Wife
The only other Patricia McDonald to come up was known more for her marriage than her writing. She’s married to comedian/actor Ryan Stiles, best known to many from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and “The Drew Carey Show.” They met in the 1980s while she was waitressing, and their bond has stood the test of time, they have three children together. Like the novelist, this Patricia McDonald has largely maintained a low profile and mostly appears in passing mentions connected to her husband’s career rather than in features of her own.
Everyday Patricia McDonalds Across the Country
And behind the public personalities, the name belongs to countless private individuals, whose stories appear in small newspapers, obits and community histories. They’re not celebrities, but their lives are just as important to the people who knew them.
A Beloved Grandmother in Maine
Patricia Jean McDonald, known to many as “Pat,” died in Portland at 80. She was remembered for warm personality, passion for baking and comfort she brought to family and friends for life. She is survived by her husband, children, grandchildren, and a large extended family that came together to celebrate her life.
A Longtime Wal-Mart Employee in Alabama
Yet another Patricia “Pat” McDonald resided in the Ryan Community close to Gadsden, Alabama. She was a sales associate for decades and enjoyed gardening and painting, and her favorite thing always was Alabama football. She had been married to her husband for 57 years, a testament to how rich and grounded a simple life can be.
A Devoted Mother in Florida
Patricia Rae McDonald was yet one more person who lived her later years in The Villages, Florida, after a life that carried her from West Virginia to Maryland and farther still. She worked in higher education administration for many years, including a lengthy term at Towson University, prior to retirement. According to her family, she was a “steady, determined woman who embraced change,” whether that change came in the form of a cross country move, or learning new office technology decades ago.
Why So Many People Share This Name
McDonald is one of the most prevalent Scottish surnames, and Patricia was a widely used name for girls born in the middle of the twentieth century, particularly throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Combine the two and it’s almost guaranteed that hordes of unrelated women, across generations and regions, would be sharing this exact same name. This is a good little warning flag to keep in mind any time you’re hunting for information about an individual. Rarely does a name tell the whole story. Things like birth year, hometown, profession or family ties are a lot more important when you’re trying to determine which Patricia McDonald it is you want to know more about.
Getting the Right Patricia McDonald
If you are looking up this name for a particular purpose, such as family history, fact-checking a news story, or any other reason, it may be useful to have more details right from the start. Think about what time period you are interested in who the person lived, where, and what she did or was known for. Was she a public person, a private one, or a relative of some other famous person? Those few answers will keep you from conflating two entirely separate lives that share nothing but the same pair of names.
Patricia McDonald is less a person than a name that has gone unnoticed across a number of women in wildly different pages of American history. Each one, in her own way, left something worth remembering.
