Patricia
StJohn was an outstanding storyteller and author with a wide appeal.
She was nearly born on an ocean liner, during a storm in the Bay
of Biscay, but arrived safely a few days after the ship docked at
Southampton. Her parents were returning to England from South America
where her father was teaching in a Bible school. Her childhood was
mainly spent in Malvern and playing with her older brother and sister
in the beautiful countryside gave her the freedom and excitement
she loved. “Tanglewoods’ Secret”
was born.
One evening aged six, she was being read to from the Bible and for
the first time she realised that God loved and cared for her. This
is beautifully described in her autobiography.
It was God’s love that motivated and empowered her to serve
others throughout her life.
When she was seven her father spent a year in Christian ministry
overseas. The rest of the family moved to Switzerland and their
immersion in the life of an alpine village later inspired her second
book “Treasures of the Snow”.
She was in awe of the beauty of creation and even as a girl had
the gift to describe creation in prose and poetry.
Nursing
in London during the war when bombs were falling was very stressful
and tiring. She experienced the dark side of life, which contrasted
with her blissful childhood. Her poem “ To
what purpose?” expresses those tensions.
Soon after the war her brother, Farnham, went to Morocco to work
as a surgeon in a missionary hospital. They were very close and
shared the vision to serve those in physical and spiritual need,
and she decided to join him. In her autobiography she describes
the journey, when she rode pillion of his motorbike.
Her next book “ Star of Light “
draws closely on the time she lived in a town in the northern mountains
of Morocco. For four years she cared for the poor using her house
as a dispensary and visiting many of the surrounding villages. Eventually
she was asked to leave the area because the officials disapproved
of her openly sharing her Christian faith.
She returned to Tangier and set up a nursing training school attached
to the hospital.
So for 30 years she lived in Morocco captivating the hearts of those
who came to her with her gift of teaching spiritual truth through
stories and by her loving service. Meanwhile she somehow found time
to retire to her quiet rooftop bedroom, with the spectacular views
across the straits of Gibraltar, and continue writing.
The
hospital was closed by the government in 1974 and she stayed on
for a few years to nurse her mother. She returned to England after
her mother’s death and lived  with
her sister, Hazel, in Coventry. She still attracted all sorts to
her home including local children, many with social problems, who
were captivated by her stories and sense of fun. They provided her
ideas for “The Mystery of Pheasant Cottage”.
Visitors also came from all over the world, as her books were translated
into many languages, desiring to meet the author of the stories
that had blessed them.
She became involved with Global Care a children’s charity,
and it continues to help children across the world. Her main legacy
however must be the thousands who by reading her books were helped
to understand God’s great love and to believe in Jesus as
their friend and saviour.
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