[close] Kennealy-Morrison was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised on Long Island.[2]

She attended St. Bonaventure University for two years, majoring in Journalism. She later transferred to Harpur College (now known as Binghamton University) where she graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1967. She then moved to New York City, where she worked first as a lexicographer for Macmillan Publishing, then as an editorial assistant at and, from 1968-1971, editor-in-chief of Jazz & Pop magazine. She was one of the first female rock critics ever, leaving the field in 1971.[2]

As editor-in-chief of Jazz and Pop she first interviewed Jim Morrison of the rock band The Doors in January 1969. After the interview, they began a correspondence, became friends and later lovers. She and Morrison exchanged marriage vows in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony in June 1970.[2] Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister,[3] the couple signed a document declaring themselves wedded.[4] Although handfasting, like other religious ceremonies, is not legal unless the appropriate State paperwork is filed, she later changed her legal name to include Morrison's name, and Morrison addressed letters and poems to her as "Patricia Morrison" and "my wife, Patricia".[5]

Kennealy-Morrison published a memoir about her years with Jim Morrison, Strange Days: My Life With And Without Jim Morrison, and also discussed their relationship in an interview in the book Rock Wives. She served as an advisor on Oliver Stone's movie, The Doors, and played a small role in the film, as the High Priestess who marries the Jim and Patricia characters (portrayed by Val Kilmer and Kathleen Quinlan). However, in subsequent interviews and writings she was scathingly critical of Stone's portrayal of Morrison, herself, and other people who were the basis for the film's fictional characters, saying Stone's fiction bore little to no resemblance to the people she had known or the events they lived through.[6][7] In the film her character is referred to as a "Wicca Priestess", however Kennealy-Morrison identifies as a Celtic Pagan, not a Wiccan.[1]

In 2000, Robin Ventura, third baseman for the pennant-winning New York Mets, took the phrase "Mojo Risin" from The Doors' "L.A. Woman" and made it the rallying cry for the team that year. Ventura and the Mets invited Kennealy-Morrison to a game just before the playoffs, where she met with them and became a Mets fan.[8] - Wikipedia - [close]