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Patrick Joseph Frawley, Jr. (1923–1998) was a Nicaraguan-American
business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...
whose portfolio included
Paper Mate Paper Mate is a division of Sanford L.P., a Newell Brands company that produces writing instruments. Paper Mate's offices are located in Oak Brook, Illinois, along with those of Newell Rubbermaid's other office products divisions. Its product ...
, Schick, and Technicolor, Inc. A devout
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, he was a leading
American conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti- neoconservative perspect ...
figure from the late 1950s onward. He became involved in publishing and film production from the late 1960s.


Biography

Frawley was born in
León, Nicaragua León () is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. Founded by the Spanish as Santiago de los Caballeros de León, it is the capital and largest city of León Department. , the municipality of León has an estimated population of ...
, to an Irish-born father and a French-Spanish mother.Thomas Jr., Robert McG
"Patrick Frawley Jr., 75, Ex-Owner of Schick,"
''New York Times'' (Nov. 9, 1998).
He grew up in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, though he dropped out of high school and returned to Nicaragua as a teenager to learn the ways of business from his father. Because of his father's
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
citizenship, Frawley enlisted in the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
and served in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1945, he married a Canadian woman named Geraldine and settled in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Shortly after the war, Frawley acquired his first company, a
ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian, Indonesian, Pakistani, and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali English and South Asian English), is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) ...
parts manufacturer that had defaulted on its loan,Paper Mate History
renaming it the Frawley Pen Company. In 1949, the Frawley Pen Company developed an ink that dried instantly; the pen that delivered this ink was called "The
Paper Mate Paper Mate is a division of Sanford L.P., a Newell Brands company that produces writing instruments. Paper Mate's offices are located in Oak Brook, Illinois, along with those of Newell Rubbermaid's other office products divisions. Its product ...
." The company claims to have made the "first pen with a retractable ballpoint tip" in 1950. In 1955, the Frawley Pen Company was obtained by The Gillette Company, Inc. for $15.5 million, and formed the basis for the Paper Mate Division of Gillette. Frawley used the profits to buy controlling shares in Shick and Technicolor, Inc.
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's takeover of a Shick factory in Cuba in 1958 awakened Frawley politically, and from that point forward he advocated (mostly behind the scenes) for
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
causes. Frawley and
Walter Knott Walter Marvin Knott (December 11, 1889 – December 3, 1981) was an American farmer and businessman who founded the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California, introduced and mass-marketed the boysenberry, and founded the Knott ...
, founder of
Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...
, provided financial support to
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
's 1964 presidential campaign, and they funded
Fred Schwarz Frederick Charles Schwarz (15 January 1913 – 24 January 2009) was an Australian physician, author, and political activist who founded the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC). He made a number of speaking tours in the United States in the ...
's anticommunist rallies. Frawley had
alcohol addiction Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
problems, and in 1964 checked into the Shadel Sanatorium in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
for
aversion therapy Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associate the stimulus wit ...
. He thought the experience was so valuable that he "bought the hospital for Schick, and renamed it Schick Shadel." In 1967, Frawley established the Twin Circle Publishing Co. as a subsidiary of Schick Investment Corp,Cassels, Louis
"Frawley An Opinion-Maker In Roman Catholic Church,"
''Desert Sun'' Vol. 44, No. 28 (5 September 1970).
founding the Catholic weekly newspaper '' Twin Circle''. That same year, he acquired Gilberton's ''
Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as '' Les Misérables'', ''Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...
'' line of
comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
from founder
Albert Kanter Albert Lewis Kanter (April 11, 1897March 17, 1973) was the creator of ''Classics Illustrated'' and '' Classics Illustrated Junior''. Kanter began creating ''Classic Comics'' with "The Three Musketeers" in October 1941. His renditions of classic n ...
. He continued selling ''Classics Illustrated'' and its sister series ''
Classics Illustrated Junior ''Classics Illustrated Junior'' is a comic book series of seventy-seven fairy and folk tale, myth and legend comic book adaptations created by Albert Lewis Kanter as a Spin-off (media), spin-off of his flagship comic book line ''Classics Illustra ...
'' under the publisher name the Frawley Corporation. Frawley published the series final titles, "In Freedom's Cause" and "Negro Americans," in 1969, but mainly concentrated on foreign sales and reprinting older titles. By the early 1970s, ''Classics Illustrated'' and ''Classics Illustrated Junior'' had been discontinued, although Frawley held on to the rights at least through the mid-1980s. By 1970, Twin Circle Publishing broadcast daily radio hits and a weekly half-hour television show espousing Frawley's conservative Catholic views. At that point, he took over publishing the ''
National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...
'' newspaper, changing its editorial focus from progressive to conservative. In 1970, Schick became a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert. Also in 1970, Canadian theatre and film producer
Harry Saltzman Herschel "Harry" Saltzman (; – ) was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. Apart from a ten-year stint living in St. Petersbu ...
won control of Technicolor from chairman Frawley in a proxy fight. In 1971, Frawley (on behalf of Schick), along with Charles E. Sellier Jr., and Rayland Jensen founded
Schick Sunn Classic Pictures Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...
, based in
Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...
. The company produced independent feature films, documentaries, and
made-for-television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...
s; in the period 1977–1982 the company produced a number of television films with the ''
Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as '' Les Misérables'', ''Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...
'' brand, including ''
The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...
'', '' Donner Pass: The Road to Survival'', and ''
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an 1820 short story by American author Washington Irving contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Irving wrote the story while living in Bi ...
''. In 1995, Frawley sold the ''National Catholic Register'' and (the renamed) '' Catholic Twin Circle'' to the
Legion of Christ The Legionaries of Christ (in , abbreviated L.C.) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right founded on January 3, 1941, by the Mexican Catholic priest Marcial Maciel. It belongs constitutively to the spiritua ...
.Dart, John
"2 Catholic Papers Sold : Media: Group with reported ties to Legion of Christ religious order buys National Catholic Register and Catholic Twin Circle,"
''Los Angeles Times'' (OCT. 7, 1995).
Frawley died on November 3, 1998, in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, leaving behind a sister, two sons, five daughters, and 20 grandchildren.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frawley, Patrick 1923 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century Roman Catholics American anti-communists American businesspeople American Roman Catholics Catholics from California Comic book publishers (people) Film producers from California Nicaraguan emigrants to the United States Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II