LEE
CHAPMAN
ARITST
EDITOR
PUBLISHER
1946 - 2020
Patricia Lee Chapman was born November 5, 1946, in Tampa, Florida to Joe and Doris Chapman. As her father was in the Air Force, the family lived in various places when she was young. Her favorite childhood memories were of the years in the early 1950s when they resided in the small town of Woburn Sands, in England. In adulthood, she lived at various times in California, Arizona, New York, and Kansas.
Lee studied drawing, painting and printmaking at Oakland City College, San Francisco Art Institute in California, and the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
From 1974 to 2011 Lee worked in various capacities (writing, editing, production design, layout) for Clancy Publications in Tuscon, AZ, Starlog Press in New York City, and as editor and publisher of First Intensity Press. After an absence of over 20 years, Lee moved back to Lawrence, KS in 1996. She remained there until her passing in 2020.
It was during her time in New York that Lee started the literary journal and press, First Intensity: A Magazine of New Writing which she produced from 1993 until 2008, which featured numerous authors and artists of note. First Intensity Press published over 20 books (mostly poetry, with a few prose, fiction, and non-fiction books) between 1994 and 2011. Lee also did editorial work and layout on a freelance basis for a number of books of poetry and prose.
Lee's work as an artist was often interwoven with her work as an editor and publisher. She created many original drawings as covers for books of poetry spanning from the late 1960's through the mid-2000s. Her work is in several private collections across the U.S. She was represented by Sally Piller's 6 Gallery in Lawrence, KS from 2007 - 2009. In 2008 she was a recipient of the Phoenix Award from the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission for her work as an artist, editor, and publisher and her place as a linchpin of the local cultural community.
Lee passed away on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.