Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing

           Patrick Smithwick has done it again. His new book Flying Change is every bit the sleek, well-bred and fast Thoroughbred as its predecessor,Racing My Father.
           In Flying Change, Smithwick is no longer racing his father. He is racing himself - while continuing with his duties as a father, a husband, a friend, a teacher and a writer.

Patrick Smithwick has been working with horses all of his life. At a very young age he began working with his father, the legendary steeplechase jockey, A.P. Smithwick, who became a trainer after retiring from riding. Smithwick then worked his way through school and college by exercising Thoroughbreds at major East Coast racetracks and riding steeplechase races at such venues as Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, and hunt meets such as the Maryland Hunt Club and the Grand National.
Smithwick received a Bachelor or Arts from Johns Hopkins University in 1973 followed by a Master of Arts in creative writing from Hollins College in 1975. After working in the newspaper business for several years, Smithwick began teaching English, philosophy, photography, and journalism at both the high school and collegiate levels. In 1988, he received a master of liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University and in 2000 he received his degree in education for ministry from University of the South. During this time, Smithwick taught as well as held the position of director of publications and public relations at two different schools.
He has now turned his two biggest passions into two business - writing and training. Thoroughbred steeplechase horse and riding. He also gives talks, teaches part-time, and does freelance writing.
In addition to Racing My Father, Smithwick has written The Art of Healing: Union Memorial Hospital and Gilman Voices, 1897-1997. He has also written for many publications including Mid-Atlantic Country, The Maryland Horse, Horsemen's Journal, and The Chronicle of the Horse.
Smithwick resides on the horse farm where he was raised in Monkton, Maryland, with his wife Ansley. They have three children: Paddy, Andrew and Eliza.