Patda Jim DeLaTorre, writing under her first and middle name, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her ‘snowbird’ family vacationed in Florida every winter and finally moved down permanently when she was seven. Patda has been an Episcopalian all of her life. She was confirmed and married in the same church, All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, Florida. Both of her daughters are also active Episcopalians.

Her older daughter, Mindel DeLaTorre, lives in Arlington, Virginia. Her church, St. Mary's, asked their congregation to find help for a young thirteen year old boy from Guinea Bissau, Africa. He had come to USA with his father, mother, and sister. His father was a chauffeur for the Guinea Bissau Embassy in Washington. Shortly after coming here, his mother died. Then his sister married. Then his father died suddenly. He had been attending a middle school in Arlington and the school took him on as a project, giving him his lunches and bus money to come to school from where his sister lived. The bus ride included two transfers and two hours of travel each way and so a home was needed closer to the school. Mindel and her husband Tom offered a place for Soufan to live. He has been with them a year now and on Sunday, November 19, 2007, he was confirmed at St. Mary's in Arlington, Virginia. He is a very sweet, helpful and studious boy.

After university, marriage took Patda from Florida. Her late husband, Steve DeLaTorre, also a graduate of UF and All American Football player there, was an engineer in the pulp and paper business. They lived in Canada during his professional football career. His work took them to live in India, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Chilé and many places in the USA. Four years ago Patda moved from Stone Mountain, GA to Edgewater Village in Lakewood Ranch.

Her dog, Scottie is known as "The Reading Dog" at Willis Elementary School is into his third year of having the first grade children read to him in an enhanced reading project. The children helped the most are the ones that for one reason or other do not like to read out loud in class. With Scottie they gain confidence and have no stress. He is there about 3 days a week helping at least 20 children who either become better readers or realize "that reading is fun."  Some weeks, he will listen to 50-60 children read. He doesn't laugh at them or correct them. They gain confidence. He lies right beside them and puts his head in their lap and sometimes his paw on the book.

Travel has been the main part of Patda's life. During the summers between her last two years at UF, she was a cruise director for the Italian Line. For the last 26 years she has owned her own group travel company and has taken thousands of people to 177 countries in the world. Patda will be leading an opera tour to Germany in May, 2007, to see Wagner’s four operas making up the Ring der Nibelungen.

Writing started for Patda at Winter Park High School and continued as she earned a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Florida. She has also taken graduate courses in Creative Writing at UCF, USF and Emory.

During one trip to Amsterdam, she bought an antique ring. Wondering who had worn this ring a hundred years ago started her writing the novel, RingGoRound, which debuted last March. A review by Ellie Parnes appeared in the July issue of The Pepper Tree Literary Magazine. Ms Parnes described it: “Patda Jim weaves together the lives of two women living one hundred years apart. While their relationship and connection is mysterious and left undetermined until the very end, their bond is undeniable …Patda’s writing makes the nearly four hundred-page book fly, and the two women’s tales blend together beautifully.”

Editor's Note: To contact  Patda and for further information on RingGoRound please email her at  patda1@mindspring.com or see the RingGoRound website.