Patricia Shipley Hook | educator, puppeteer, actor, ATCA member (1932-2010)

Patricia Shipley Hook | educator, puppeteer, actor, ATCA member (1932-2010)

Patricia Shipley Hook, 77, of Annapolis, an educator, puppeteer, actor and for 20 years a freelance theater and music critic, died Jan. 25 of Parkinson’s Disease at a hospice in Harwood, MD.

In honor of her late son, Pat created the Evan Shipley Hook Fund within Foundation ATCA. The fund fosters and encourages new critics to pursue education in theatre and criticism and has been used to subsidize those at the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.

Chris Rawson commented on her Legacy obituary carried over from the Baltimore Sun. “On behalf of the American Theatre Critics Association, of which Pat Hook was a member, good friend and benefactor, I’d like to express widespread sadness at her passing. Through the Evan Shipley Hook Fund she inaugurated, she has helped with the education and development of young critics. But more important, she was a sunny, supportive presence at ATCA gatherings. We miss her.”

The Goodman Theatre’s Denise Schneider, who knew Pat from her time at Arena Stage, reflected on her gentle and considerate personal and critical nature. “Her wide, caring eyes and gentle nature were distinctly and uniquely Pat. She so loved the theater and we so loved her being there. I could always count on her reviews, regardless of whether she actually liked the production, to be thoughtful, well-written and encouraging.”

The Hook Fund resources are earmarked for critic educational projects and programs of the Foundation-ATCA such as travel support to attend conferences and seminars, grants to conduct research, and scholarships to attend the annual Eugene O’Neill National Critics Institute.

— edited and hyperlinked by Martha Wade Steketee from published sources