Patrick Eugene Cochran is an Irish American with family roots in the U. S. reaching back to before the American Revolution.

Left: The Carroll Family. Dr. Cochran’s grandparents and their four children. From left, Uncle Gene. Aunt Lauretta, Emilie (my mother), and Uncle Lory. Family lore asserts that Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a forefather of Clarence Carroll, Dr. Cochran’s maternal Grandfather.

Dr. Cochran received his Ph.D. in Organizational Systems from Saybrook Institute and Graduate School July 21, 2003. He has had a life-long interest in poetry, prose, and other creative arts, thanks to early exposure by a loving mother and grandmother, both of whom were artists.

Grandma Carroll was a schoolteacher and Patrick had the joyful experience of being taught by her in the third grade in a one-room schoolhouse in Newhall, California. It was in this school that Patrick first learned the colors of the rainbow and became acquainted with the paintings of Pinky, by Thomas Lawrence, and The Blue Boy, by Thomas Gainsborough. These two paintings have been life-long reminders of his third grade learning and helped promote his love of fine art. His mother would take him to museums and art shows in Southern California, including the Huntington Library where Pinky and The Blue Boy hang opposite each other.

Patrick’s poetic efforts began in the 1960’s, during the era of peaceful rebellion and free love. Three of his poems were published in the 1985 Loma Linda University literary journal Discourse. Up to this point the bulk of his writing has been of a scientific and technical nature.

Patrick spent a number of years researching rare neuromuscular disorders in an effort to find answers for the rare affliction, Anderson-Tawil Syndrome, experienced by many, including his wife, Wanda Kay Cochran, who died December 23, 2017.

In addition to his poetry, he is currently working on a historical novel developed around a fictional family in Ireland. Now retired, Patrick is able to commit fully to writing ⸻his first passion.