Patricia Crowther
Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAT : Patricia Crowther
- This article is about the cave explorer, for the Wiccan see Patricia Crowther (Wiccan)
Patricia was well-known among Kentucky cavers for her slight frame (she weighed 115 pounds) and her extreme dedication. These two traits led her to pursue promising leads other cavers were unwilling or unable to attempt. Of particular note is her traversal of The Tight Spot just beyond the end of the A-Survey in the portion of the Flint Ridge cave system underlying Houchins Valley. The Tight Spot proved to be the critical juncture leading to the passages connecting the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems. (Brucker, 1976, pp. 191–192, 230–248) Both Patricia Crowther and her then-husband Will Crowther were part of many expeditions that attempted to connect the caves. Pat was part of the September 9, 1972 expedition that finally completed that historic Final Connection. Perhaps notably, Will was not there on that historic day. (Brucker, 1976, p. 299) She later wrote that when she woke up on the Thursday morning after the discovery, she felt the same way she had after she'd given birth to her children: the whole world seemed new. She put on a Gordon Lightfoot record, she said, and cried.
Patricia pursued her undergraduate studies at MIT where she met and married William. The couple had two daughters, Sandy and Laura and divorced in 1976. (Montfort, 2003, pp. 85)
Patricia wrote The Grand Kentucky Junction: Memoirs[link], an account of the expeditions undertaken to connect the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems.
References
- Brucker, Roger W.; Watson, Richard A. (1976). The Longest Cave. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-8093-1321-9.
- Crowther, Patricia (1984). The Grand Kentucky Junction: Memoirs. Cave Books. ISBN 0939748088.
- Montfort, Nick (2003). Twisty Little Passages: An Approach To Interactive Fiction. Cambridge: The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-13436-5.
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