Can you see the phone? And how about that shed? How much room does that fax machine take up, Pat?

Whew! Patrick has a lot of titles – as he well deserves as he’s probably the nicest, coolest journalist I’ve ever dealt with in all my years of doing PR. I remember pitching him “back in the day” when I worked for Sportsman Channel full-time and he was penning his weekly syndicated column. So when I read below that he somehow or another developed foes because of what he wrote (and it was about basketball, of all things) I laughed out loud! As everyone here at the Wires knows…sometimes it is difficult to report the truth.

I knew his office would be super cool – and he did not disappoint. Read on for a view inside Patrick’s home office – Michelle Scheuermann, editor, Archery Wire.

I love all the family pics. And I'm sure the piles of paper all mean something...

I prefer an office with no windows. When I had a window for two years in my office at “Deer & Deer Hunting” magazine (1990s), I pulled the shades and set up my desk so I faced away from the window. I dislike distractions while writing or editing.

I converted this space into an office when we moved here 27 years ago. I installed the drywall, painted it, built the bookshelves, ran the phone lines and computer/home network lines.

The "Ghostbusters" sign kills me.

I keep lots of small mementos atop my desk, and hang memorable photos of inspirational family/people/friends around the office; and tape quotations around my desk. Three favorites:

“No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.” — Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784

“Perfection is unattainable because we’re human, but in striving for perfection we’ll achieve excellence.” — Vince Lombardi

“‘Go along, get along’ is not an inspirational philosophy, and God only knows how much moral cowardice it has covered up over the years.” — Molly Ivins

How many VHS tapes? And books??!

People often ask about the Ghostbuster sign with my name on it. I got picketed at a basketball game when starting out as a sportswriter in Oshkosh, Wis., in 1983. The local booster club for a semi-pro basketball team didn’t like some of my columns. After they finished picketing me, a friend approached them and asked if he could have one of their signs. He told them, “Yeah, I work with the guy. He’s a real dick.” Ha! He gave me the sign the next morning, and I built a frame for it.

I work on my iMac desktop computer, and keep a MacBook Pro plugged in beside it so I can do searches and read documents on the laptop while writing on the desktop. I run a software program at day’s end so everything I worked on that day backs up on my laptop. When I leave on a trip the next day, everything is there on the MacBook

I still have a landline phone/fax machine. I probably haven’t sent or received a fax in 10 years, but I’m too cheap to replace something that still works. I’ll always have a landline. It’s more reliable in a basement office, and the sound quality/connections are always better.

I typically work from 8:15 am till 9 pm weekdays, with half-hour breaks at lunch and dinner. I usually work half the weekend too. Freelancing isn’t leisurely. Besides my work as contributing editor for the ATA, I write a weekly syndicated newspaper column for several Wisconsin outlets (haven’t missed that weekly deadline in 35 years!), biweekly articles for TheMeatEater.com, frequent articles for American Hunter magazine, periodic contributions for Inside Archery magazine, and occasional over-the-transom work.

Pat - we treat chairs the same way, if its empty, it won't be for long.

My desk is never clean, but it’s organized. I use a spare chair in the corner to stack overflow stuff. About twice a year someone actually sits in that chair.

-Patrick Durkin