The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Voice could calm, compel
Journalist ‘was more than just a talker. He was also a doer.’
It was Roy Patterson’s voice that did the trick, his wife said. It was so calm and soothing that when you heard it, you just knew everything was going to be all right.
“I have a few girlfriends who’ve said they’ve called my house just to hear Roy’s voice on the voice mail after a particularly bad day,” Sandra “Sandi” Patterson said with a laugh. “And they’d say after they heard it, they could go on.”
A former WXIA reporter and talk show host, Mr. Patterson’s voice was a major part of his career.
After he left the station in the mid-1980s, he started his own video production company, where his work included filming events, video editing and, of course, voice-overs, his wife said.
Mr. Patterson’s voice could do more than calm. It could also call people to action, said Stan Washington, a friend and colleague.
“It was a voice that told you he was more than just a talker. He was also a do- er,” said Mr. Washington, who is also a senior writer for The Atlanta Voice.
Roy Patterson of Atlanta died at home Friday from complications of a muscular disorder. He was 67. A funeral service is planned for noon today at Big Bethel AME Church, Atlanta. Willie A. Watkins, Historic West End Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Patterson was born in Dawson, approximately 25 miles northwest of Albany, and spent time as a youth in Jacksonville, where he graduated from high school.
But it was his time in Dawson that was etched into his memory and guided him as an adult.
“They had a lot of ra- cial problems in Dawson,” Mrs. Patterson said. “His mother was very active in the [civil rights] movement, and he was active in the movement because of his mom.”
Mr. Patterson first attended Paine College but ultimately earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Southern California, his wife said.
She believed his eventual interest in journalism did not surprise her, because he was “such a wellrounded man.”
Mr. Patterson’s career in media started in New York as a newspaper reporter.
He came to Atlanta to cover the 1973 city election, when Maynard Jackson was elected mayor.
He remained in town and took a job with WXIA, where he worked first as a sports reporter, then as a news reporter and finally as a talk show host.
Mr. Patterson was also an early member of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, where he fought for racial diversity in newsrooms and an approach to reporting that included minority views and perspectives.
“Roy was one of the best presidents AABJ ever had, and I’m speaking as a founder and former twoterm president myself,” Mr. Washington said. “He set that activist tone for the organization.”
Mr. Patterson’s upbringing as a participant in the civil right movement not only shaped his life but informed his news coverage, colleagues said.
“He had a very activist attitude and type of approach to journalism and to media,” Mr. Washington said. “He took that same attitude to getting information to people that they could use to make well-informed decisions. I would definitely say he was a crusading journalist.”
Friend and colleague Sidmel Estes said Mr. Patterson was, “A journalist warrior who practiced journalism the way I liked, and that is fearlessly.”
In addition to his wife of more than 26 years, Mr. Patterson is also survived by his four daughters: Chaka Patterson of Chicago, Angela Benton and Malika Wells of metro Atlanta, and Shaundra Royelle Patterson of Ann Arbor, Mich.; mother, Carolyn Daniels of Atlanta; sisters, Karen and Sharron Patterson, both of Jacksonville; and seven grandchildren.