Pat Harris
Pat Harris is a lifelong Saint Paulite and dedicated community leader. His public service began in 1989 as a VISTA volunteer at Catholic Charities, where he first encountered the Saint Anthony Residence and its remarkable untold stories. This experience sparked a career of civic engagement, including 12 years on the Saint Paul City Council, where he championed poverty relief, library access, arts, and homelessness, earning honors like the Catholic Charities Lifetime Service Award.
In 2004, he founded Serving Our Troops, a nationally recognized, Emmy-winning program supporting Minnesota National Guard families. A leader in public finance for over two decades, Pat has helped governments nationwide.
He holds degrees from Marquette University and the University of Minnesota and, with his partner Laura, raises four children and a spirited dog, Ranger. Through his leadership and advocacy, Pat continues to shape Saint Paul’s story—both as a champion for his community and as an author bringing its history to life.
Follow Pat Harris
Check out Pat’s website!
Author Events
Check the calendar for speaking events and online appearances.
Media Assets
Grab an author photo, book cover photo, and book ordering info.
Events
Praise Quotes for A Season on the Drink:
“A Season on the Drink is a story of challenge, hope, and coming together as a team to do something extraordinary that can transform—even for a moment… It’s a story of redemption, dignity and purpose.”—Dave Winfield, National Baseball Hall of Famer.”
“The joy of this wonderful book is the hunt. We search for ourselves in each of the characters. Adapt, examine, identify, discard. Like a great painting, A Season on the Drink is immersive in the best sense.”—Mike Veeck, former MLB executive & current Minor League team owner
“A Season on the Drink is a powerful and compassionate portrait of the men living at the St. Anthony Residence—fittingly named for the patron saint of lost things. While Harris offers an honest account of all they have lost—stability, relationships, health, and purpose—he also reveals what remains: moments of connection, resilience, and the hope of being seen. At its heart, this is a story about our need to belong, even in the most overlooked and forgotten places.” — Pat Plonski, Executive Director, Books for Africa
“Finding your place in the world isn’t always a fastball down the middle. A Season on the Drink captures the hopes and struggles we all face—on the field and off. Full of heart, humor, and hard truths, this one connects. I call ’em like I see ’em: it’s a hit.” — Tim Tschida, Legendary MLB Umpire
“The best baseball stories are deeply rooted in a love for the game while also casting an unflinching eye at the world beyond the foul poles. Count A Season on the Drink among those stories. Pat Harris masterfully blends wry humor with an honest, moving portrayal of addiction to create a memorable cast of characters who keep readers rooting for them even after the last pitch is thrown.” — Jack Heffron, The Local Boys: Hometown Players of the Cincinnati Reds
“First pitch and you’re in. A Season on the Drink is an original cocktail of true characters, orderly chaos, broken dreams, and a shaky team of outcasts desperate for redemption. Its free-swinging narrative neatly weaves through a lineup of complicated lives that intersect through personal pain and shared inspiration. It’s a winner!” — Dave Whitaker is the author of Cabrini-Green in Words and Pictures and Live from FitzGerald’s: Songs and Stories of an American Music Club. He was also a founding editor of StreetWise, the newspaper supporting the unhoused community in Chicago.
Media Assets
For cover images, contact info@adventurewithkeen.com
Contact Us Form
