Ann Patty

Ann Patty spent more than three decades in New York trade publishing before becoming a memoirist. She founded Poseidon Press and later worked as an executive editor at Crown and Harcourt, editing writers whose books ranged across literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Living with a Dead Language recounts the new direction she found after leaving publishing and moving to rural New York. Beginning Latin classes in later life, Patty encountered grammar, translation, and the poetry of Catullus, Lucretius, Ovid, and Virgil. Those studies became a way to revisit her career, family history, losses, and changing sense of purpose. Viking published the memoir in 2016, and Penguin later issued a paperback edition. The book combines linguistic curiosity with personal reflection rather than treating Latin as an abstract academic subject. Patty’s editorial experience gives her a close ear for words, while her return to the classroom lets Living with a Dead Language examine how sustained learning can reshape memory and everyday life.