Patrick Whalen, M.A.
aka George Patrick Whalen
April 2002 saw the end of my 20 years of service at a child welfare agency in Manhattan. Talbot Perkins Children's Services went out of business; it had been in operation since 1927. The search for conventional employment led to nothing, so I became an author of nonfiction. In January 2003 I published my first book, Brain Bombardment: A Runner's Diary.
My second book was published in September 2003. The title is Write Your Own Chess Book, Regardless of Your Strength. One of its purposes is to show that masters are not the only ones who can publish their games. The book, through its own example, shows how we can learn from our annotations. Learning by writing was a valuable experience. In tournaments at the Marshall Chess Club, I scored two draws in endgames against masters, despite being very much the underdog. Readers have told me that this book is instructive.
Just as my chess book was being published, I finished six months of study at Career Vision, a computer school in Manhattan. My courses included Web development, MS Office, SQL, and Java. Passing the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) Foundations exam with a 98 did not lead to a job. My only consolation is the title of CIW Associate and written permission to use the trademark that is at the top of this page. Taking another certification exam is out of the question (although I am keeping up with my studies). I cannot afford exam fees, and I need a job now.
If I want to make web development a career instead of a hobby, I'll just have to hang out my shingle and create my own job. As for writing, I have resumed work on my third book, Algebra Without Witches.
| Technical | Career Vision | CIW Associate, 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate | Fordham University Graduate School | M.A., English Literature, 1976 |
| Undergraduate | Fordham College | B.A., English Literature, 1974 |
| Secondary | Dover Jr.-Sr. High | Class valedictorian, 1970 |