From the imagination of Seattle-based writer-producer Jim French come 24 tense, exciting radio thrillers produced in the classic style by modern talent. Either way, he’s Pacific Northwestern private eye Harry Nile. Fortunately I knew I would see her every couple months at the live recordings of Imagination Theater.He’s a smart tough guy…or a tough smart guy. Even well into her 70s she continued to teach at multiple locations. I have met very few people so kind and generous with themselves and their time as Pat. She taught me to be confident on the air, sure of my personality and my words, and that broadcast more than anything else was about sharing oneself as completely as possible. She was a fantastic teacher who kickstarted many careers in radio and voice-over at Bellevue College, where I myself took classes from her during my time at KBCS. Outside of Jim French Productions, Pat was even more. She was an excellent actress and fabulous director. Pat wasn’t just a voice, however, but the glue of the series, directing a prodigious number of its episodes as well as much of the later series Kincaid the Strangeseeker.

Most people probably know her as the voice of Murphy in Jim’s long-running series, The Adventures of Harry Nile. I can only offer this humble appreciation.

I am not the person to write an obituary for Pat. Yet this pales to the news I received last Tuesday about the passing of Pat French. To lose Jim French Productions is a heavy blow to the audio drama community, and to the city of Seattle in particular. French has brought us 42 years of Harry Nile, and 21 years of Imagination Theater, remaining the only professional, union shop radio drama in the area, and indeed the best in the country. And Jim French was at the heart of it all. While radio programming around the country was turning AM into a cheap jukebox, Seattle held firm with high quality radio drama. When it comes to radio, Seattleites have no idea how well we have had it for the past fifty years.

After the January show for Imagination Theater, I got the message that Imagination Theater’s parent, Jim French Productions, would be closing down at the end of March. It’s been a bad couple of weeks for Seattle radio drama. Pat French, script in hand, at the 2007 Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound soirée.

Adventures of harry nile no worries