Rex Patch

Critic Rex Patch has been a reviewer of and collaborator with Harry Hardiner since the publication of "Johnny Kite and Friend" in 1991. He was also a prolific interviewer of Hardiner: his book The Shattered Goblet is excerpts from the final interview ever conducted with the vanished author.

The critic has also authored a set of roman a clef novels which roughly serve as a multi-volume biography of Hardiner. The Hardinest series presents the vanished man as one Risen (see: Rodonymatology) into the action of his own series, and invents fantastic and at turns horrifying events to plug the wide gaps in Hardiner's known history.

Patch founded the exclusive Society of Algiers in December 2000 on the year anniversary of Hardiner's vanishing. The society's stated goal is to sustain Hardiner scholarship in curriculums across the country. Its roster is a fiercely defended secret, and membership is said to be offered only to those with great influence in the world of the arts. Many unlikely theories have emerged about the shadowy membership: that their meetings are held in a secret room buried deep beneath Hardiner Hollow, that their business includes running the affairs of major world states, and that their gatherings culminate in depraved bacchanals driven by drugs and drink. There is no evidence to suggest any of this is the case. Patch himself has declared the group's influence only extends to a few friendly members on the Tennessee state Board of Education.