I’m not mentioned in P Smith’s new book: Chronicles and Narratives: Tales from Strawberry Plains & Gay Street. That’s great. But lots of folks you know and love are there. Even Betty Bean rates a chapter.

Patti McPeters Smith, 84, has lived the equivalent of three lives for most anybody else. Helper at Helma’s, her mom’s restaurant & catering business; school teacher; mom of two boys; beef farmer in Strawberry Plains.

Then, a switch flipped. The boys had left for college and in 1993, P Smith left the farm and bought a condo in the 100 block of Gay Street. Along the way she started a sign company with offices in the Holston Shopping Center, then on Central Street, then on Tyson Street downtown. Oh, and she also worked track and field events, some for pay, most for fun. Patti was the second or third person to actually live downtown, I think, and I was scared for her, living across from the mission.

She made it work somehow.

Then, just as the housing boom blew the top out of the real estate market, in 2022 she sold her condo and bought a recreational vehicle – RV. She left Knoxville with her rescue dog, Petie, to crisscross the country, spending time in Houston, Texas, where her boys live and in Coastal Mississippi. And now she’s back.

Her book has tales of her adventures. It’s not comprehensive or even chronological. But it’s a quick and fun read.

Here’s an example: a young couple bought a condo downtown, living upstairs and putting a storefront office on the street level. But the city had run a yellow stripe on the edge of the sidewalk at their building, banning parking for their customers. After efforts to get the stripe removed, someone (“the citizen”) bought two cans of gray paint and during the night sprayed over the yellow stripe.

The city’s response was quick but unexpected. Someone from a different department installed two meters on the newly created parking spaces.

Lessons learned: Fun follows P Smith and she recalls enough to make several good tales; P works hard and plays harder; and she cultivates community wherever she lands. Patti is a leader and a good friend.

Buy this book. It will make a great gift for Knoxville old-timers and newcomers as well.