Join American author, educator, explorer and New Zealand citizen, Jo Patti, as she returns to Aotearoa for a special book tour event.
Author of two books, Kismet, a volume of poetry, and Getting Off The X, a collection of non-fiction stories about risk-taking and getting out of danger - including her own personal story of tragedy - Jo has deep connections with Aotearoa.
“It’s time now more than ever to return to beautiful New Zealand to share perspectives gained from first hand experiences in many different situations and countries. I look forward to catching up with friends and meeting more people throughout the country, as well as seeing if or how New Zealand has changed,” Jo says.
Now based in Texas, Jo’s book, Getting Off The X was published last year, and features people all over the globe “getting off the x” - the common thread that ties all the chapters together.
Join Jo for a reading and to hear more about her stories. She will also be selling copies of Getting Off The X.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jo Patti was born into a first generation immigrant family in New Jersey, USA. At high school, she earned several scholarships and graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington D.C. There, she was chosen for a number of special programmes including a course in Psycho cybernetics, a PADI Scuba diving certification and the Philodemic society. She was also the first woman to win the Circumnavigator’s travel grant and was awarded an AUIE fellowship for Tropical Terrestrial and Marine Biology field research and study in Central America.
Jo is also a New Zealand citizen. In 1989, she was employed by Kahurangi National Maori Dance Theatre in Hastings and the sponsorship of Wiremu Te Tau Huata, his son, Tama Huata and other elders gained her family citizenship in 1994.
Jo’s second child, her daughter Sequoia (an athlete adventurer, entrepreneur and writer, who toured New Zealand just last year), was born there, in Napier, 1991.
In the mid 1990s, her family returned to NSW, Australia, for her to continue her work in the Gumbayngiir Aboriginal communities and teach at Southern Cross University Coffs Harbour campus.
In 2001, she returned to New Zealand where she received a scholarship and graduated from Massey University with her Post Graduate Degree in Education in 2003, then continued her studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the New Zealand School of Acupuncture and TCM in Wellington while it was directed by Adejola Musa Olatunji (Tunji). Jo was asked to become part of the faculty at the Wellington campus, to create a curriculum and help start a program for refugees using auricular acupuncture, in late 2005.
Jo’s work has since taken her all over the world, and her contribution is significant. She’s worked across the globe in education, health, monitoring, evaluation, research and training.
In 2013, Patti suffered personal tragedy, when her son, Denali Schmidt, was killed, along with his father, climbing the K-2 in Pakistan. Neither body has been found, and her daughter, Sequoia has since returned to the site to look for her brother and father.
Jo's website hosts her blog "Viewpoints" posted every Tuesday online at jopatti.com.