In the NEWS & Events

In the NEWS…

NOTE:  you’re viewing this page on your phone so you’re unable to see its 2-column layout (for full-size monitors). So please scroll way-y down this page in order to view the Upcoming and Prior Events columns.

Please also note MANY other (older) media articles and interviews have been hidden in order to make the page more manageable for you on this device. If you’d like to see the complete list of Thomas Cochrane’s publicity please revisit this page when using a desktop or laptop. Thanks!

The Press Democrat newspaper recently featured a two-part article by Thomas Cochrane. The first, entitled “Coastal Adventure,” focused on Sonoma County and was the LEAD story of the Outdoors section in their Sunday edition. As you can see, his piece dominated this section, encompassing 2/3 of the section’s cover page and then continuing on to another half-page, and included 3 oversized color photos of his.

In the online edition, the article was re-titled “Visiting Our Coast” and also features a gallery of 10 (huge!) images — most of which were also taken by him.

READ “Visiting Our Coast” now…

And most recently, part 2 was published, entitled, “Tips from a local geologist on visiting the Mendocino coast.”  It too was the LEAD story (screenshot) of the Outdoors section in the paper’s Sunday edition, and also features 6 of his photos.

As these articles relate directly to his regional bestseller, Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast (published in 2017), this publicity caused the book to spike back up in its Amazon rankings (!).

The Press Democrat is one of the largest daily circulation newspapers in N. California.

Northbay Biz

A guest column for Northbay Biz by Thomas Cochrane  entitled “A Fragile Coast and the Impact on Marine Life” raises his alarm about the impacts of Climate Change on the Sonoma County region. Northbay Biz is the highest circulation monthly magazine in the tri-county area it serves: Sonoma, Marin & Napa.

READ now (link to .pdf will open in new window, Northbay Biz’s new website has not yet been relaunched).

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed by Suzanne Lang for a recent 15+ min. segment on her radio show profiling “risky authors” for his newest book, Entwined — In Mystery & Murder…x 2

The Novel Idea airs on KRCB-FM radio and podcasts of the show are hosted by National Public Radio thereafter.  LISTEN now…!

NPR logo

 

Sonoma County Gazette

A feature article has just been published profiling all three of Thomas Cochrane‘s books in the Sonoma County Gazette. It’s entitled, A Wildly Imaginative and Unpredictable Detective Romp (link will open in new browser window).

 

Mystery Readers Only blog

 

Entwined — In Mystery & Murder…x 2 is featured on this blog hosted by Thonie Hevron, award-winning author, and includes a post by Thomas Cochrane on his writing process and first foray into fiction. 

READ now… (link will open in new window).

Entwined — In Mystery & Murder…x 2 has been selected as a FEATURED  title on MysteryReads.com (link will open in new window).

 

Author Thomas Cochrane was profiled in a recent article in the Independent Coast Observer newspaper. The photo accompanying the article is of him at Four-Eyed Frog Books in Gualala pictured with all three of his books sold there.

Read the article…link will open in new window.

 

Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil debuted as the #1 New Release in its main genre upon its initial launch on Amazon (link opens the screenshot, sales figures updated hourly).

AND

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast made it onto Amazon’s best seller list in its main genre, “Coastal” — which of course means it’s competing with books from all over. At the time, this was a new feature on Amazon; as you’ll see here in this screenshot, it first it made it into the TOP 25…and then during a spate of back-to-back events with Thomas Cochrane, it jumped into the TOP 5!!

This achievement was all the more noteworthy as our promotional efforts for this title when launched was geared exclusively to supporting the local retailers carrying the title (which has continued to be a strong seller at a variety of stores regionally).

Finalist_da Vince prize, 2019

Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil was named a Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award’s annual Da Vinci Eye Prize for….. “superior cover artwork. Cover art is judged on both content and style. The da Vinci Eye is given in honor of the historic artist, scientist, and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. This is an additional distinction beneath the Eric Hoffer Award umbrella.”

The Eric Hoffer Award honors the memory of the great American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting salient writing, as well as the independent spirit of small publishers. Since its inception, the Hoffer has become one of the largest international book awards for small, academic, and independent presses.

 

Midwest Book Review logo

 

By Midwest Book Review, a longtime staple in the publishing industry whose reviews have been relied upon by booksellers, librarians, and readers  nationwide since 1976 — published in their Small Press Bookwatch book review magazine, on The Biography Shelf:

“Critique:  Exceptionally well written, exceptionally candid, impressively informative, and a simply riveting read from cover to cover, “Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil: A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for Black Gold” is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary American Biography collections.”

READ their full review…

(link will open in new window)

Thomas Cochrane was recently interviewed about his writing process for the website, Interviews with Writers — a project of BookGoodies.com who have also featured Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil on their site.

READ the article (link will open in new window).

As plate tectonics (earthquakes) are a topic he frequently speaks on when giving guest lectures regionally, Thomas Cochrane was recently interviewed for an article entitled “Strong earthquakes have recently shaken Greece, Bali, and California:  here’s some tips for travellers” for Lonely Planet — a publishing company whose travel guidebooks have sold millions of copies and whose website traffic is ranked in the top 3,000 sites — GLOBALLY.

READ the article (link will open in new window) — you’ll have to scroll down a ways to get to the section with his earthquake tips for those traveling in California.

Thomas Cochrane wrote an article for the publication he previously served as Editor for, the Shale Shaker (Journal of the Oklahoma City Geological Society). The article is entitled An “Unexpected” Wildcatter Reminisces, and is featured in their September-October issue.

READ the 3-page article in their online hosting of the publication…and here too is a .pdf (each link will open in new window).

Tornadoes, Rattlesnakes & Oil was reviewed in The Oklahoman‘s featured Sunday Book Review section. The newspaper is the largest in  the state — and is the setting for the bulk of this firsthand memoir of Thomas Cochrane‘s adventures in the oil patch of the 1960s & 70s.

READ the review… (link will open in new window), and here’s how the article appeared in the print edition of the newspaper.

 

Northbay Biz

Thomas Cochrane wrote an article for the Sonoma County Gazette detailing his recent return visit to Oklahoma, the setting for the bulk of the oil patch action in his second book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil (which also includes his time working in Texas). It’s entitled “A Local Environmentalist/Oilman’s Energy Update From the Midwest.”

READ the article here (link will open in new window). And here’s a screenshot from the newspaper’s homepage.

 

Northbay Biz

Thomas Cochrane was invited to write a guest column for Northbay Biz which is the regional Business Journal magazine serving Sonoma, Marin & Napa counties, and is the top-rated monthly publication in the tri-county area. The article is entitled, “Big Oil—The Environment, and the Renewed Threat to the Coast” and appeared in the magazine’s February issue. Read his full-page article (print edition) here

 

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed  in-studio on KGO-AM’s “Ryan Scott Show” for a lively segment about his NEW book which also included a discussion of his thoughts on current issues/problems with the oil industry.  The show aired on Saturday, January 5th and was his second appearance on Ryan’s show.

Listen now…

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed for a segment about his NEW book on In the Oil Patch — a show heard on multiple radio stations in Texas (Midland, Corpus Christi, San Antonio) including iHeart radio stations in Dallas and Houston which also livestream globally — and the show is also a widely-distributed podcast. Radio air dates occurred on 12/22 and 12/23. In the Oil Patch is sponsored by Shale Oil & Gas Magazine.

Click here to listen to this 30-minute interview…(audio player will open in new window).

 

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed by Court Lewis on American Variety Radio and discussed his new book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil — A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for “Black Gold”, including their detailed exchange on the complexities of finding/extracting oil, and how geologists “see” underground.

American Variety Radio focuses on history, science, and technology, and is heard on a number of radio stations in TN and FL as well as online on the Science Radio Network. The 30-minute segment is being aired on various stations on various dates beginning 11/9. Listen to the interview

Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil was reviewed by the American Oil & Gas Historical Society for their “Oil History Books” collection. 

READ the full review

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed  by BookGoodies.com about his work as an author, including questions about his in-process first fiction book.  BookGoodies is a high-traffic website catering to the author community and you can read the interview here

 

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed  in-studio about his newest book by Suzanne Lang for KRCB’s “A Novel Idea” radio show (which features both nonfiction as well as fiction authors) and the segment aired on December 2nd.

On the show’s promo page, Lang describes the author as “a natural born storyteller” (see screenshot).

KRCB is the most widely heard PBS radio station north of San Francisco.

LISTEN to the interview…

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast was also named the #1 bestselling book for 2017 at Four Eyed Frog Books in Gualala, a beloved indie bookstore which has been a community cornerstone on the coast for 15 years. As you can see, this list includes books of local interest but also New York Times bestsellers as well.

Click here to view their bestseller’s list.

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed  in-studio for a lively segment about his first book on KGO-AM’s “Ryan Scott Show” which included a detailed discussion on plate tectonics.

Listen to the interview (link will open in a new window).

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed on BloomerBoomer.com and discussed the launch of his newest book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil. BloomerBoomer bills itself as “The Huffington Post for Boomers.”

The video interview was posted on their homepage as the “featured video” upon its debut on the site and here’s the link (a new browser window will open).

He also penned an article for their website entitled, “One Man’s Reflections on the Male-female Tug of War – through the lens of time”, a topic which is also touched upon in his newest book’s concluding chapters (along with his morphed views on “Big Oil” after his years as an industry insider).

Sonoma County Gazette

Thomas Cochrane penned an article for the September issue of the Sonoma County Gazette entitled Saving the Gualala Watershed (available on over 1000 newsstands in the region.)

The link above is to their online edition, and here’s how the article appeared in their PRINT edition which also included this BOOK REVIEW of Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil. (Note all links will open in a new browser window.)

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed on KGUA’s morning show, “Peggy’s Place,” on August 22nd and discussed earthquakes, issues of climate change, and his second book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil. Listen to the audio here (a new browser window will open).

This was a repeat invitation by the host and you can listen to earlier interviews of his on this show (scroll down on this page for links to those audio recordings).

The Independent Coast Observer (newspaper) profiled Thomas Cochrane’s new book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil — A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for “Black Gold.”

The original 2-page.pdf from the newspaper (only available online to subscribers) is high resolution (for print) and over 32 MB in size, so here’s a .jpg of page 1 of the article, and the .jpg of page 2  (note:  images will open in a new browser window/tab).

The North Bay Bohemian (the cultural voice of Sonoma, Napa & Marin counties) interviewed Thomas Cochrane for their COVER story on Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast. This weekly publication is distributed to 1500 newsstands in the three counties — he also took this photo they selected for the cover (the book contains nearly 50 color photos, diagrams & maps).

READ the article

And here’s how the print edition appeared on newsstands.

KSRO news/talk radio’s morning anchor, Pat Kerrigan, interviewed  Thomas Cochrane  regarding this past weekend’s once-in-a-century 8.1 earthquake located off the coast of Mexico.  The segment aired during her show on Wednesday, September 13.

KSRO interview w/ Pat Kerrigan -- topic: earthquakes

with Thomas Cochrane, Geologist

Sonoma County Gazette

Thomas Cochrane penned a feature article for the September issue of Sonoma County Gazette entitled “The Renewed Threat of Offshore Drilling – a local geologist weighs in.” This is the 2nd highest-circulation monthly publication in the county (link displays their ginormous roster of distribution locations for the print edition).

READ the article

Northbay Biz

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast was glowingly reviewed as one of their June 2017 picks by Northbay Biz  which serves Sonoma, Napa & Marin Counties and is the top-rated monthly publication regionally. Their June issue is also a special one as it announces “The Best of Northbay Biz” and their annual readers poll results.

READ the article (link will open in new tab, requires Adobe Reader) and here’s how it appeared in their print issue.

KZYX-FM Public Radio, Mendocino County

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed (taped) on “The Ecology Hour” on KZYX-FM (Mendocinco County’s Public Radio station), air date was Tuesday, September 12th @ 7:00 p.m. For information on the interview click here.

Hosts for the hour-long show are Dr. Robert Spies, a marine biologist, and Tim Bray, a geologist — the show aims to bring listeners the latest in ecological science, especially relating to Mendocino County.

Thomas Cochrane wrote a [ginormous!] feature article for the Press Democrat which was the lead story in the newspaper’s Outdoors section plus highlighted on the PD’s homepage, “Daytripping to some of the coolest rock formations along the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.”

READ the article and see the gallery of 10 color photos (most of which were taken by him)…

And here’s how the print issue appeared, including the teaser headline on the Sunday edition’s front page.

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast is featured in the roster of “Top 5 Things to Do in Mendocino.”

Read the Mendocino Visitors Guide blog post (.pdf, new browser window will open).

An article entitled, “Geology guide ‘Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast’ decodes its puzzles” appeared in the Ukiah Daily Journal‘s (regional newspaper, Mendocino County) Lifestyle section recently.

Read the article

 

Sonoma County Gazette

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast was reviewed by Jeane Slone in the May issue of the Sonoma County Gazette, the 2nd highest-circulation monthly publication in the county (link displays their ginormous roster of distribution locations for the print edition).

Read the review

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed by Suzanne Lang for KRCB’s “A Novel Idea” radio show (which features both nonfiction as well as fiction authors). The 30-minute segment aired on KRCB-FM on Sunday, April 30th @ 4:00 p.m.

Listen to the interview…

Suzanne Lang’s interview with Thomas Cochrane will also air Sunday May 14th at 7 p.m. on KOWS-FM (streaming at www.kows.fm).

Brent Farris reviewed Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast and said “It’s great!” and did a giveaway of 5 copies on-air during March.

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast is featured on The Sea Ranch page of VisitSonomaCoast.com (scroll down page).

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed on “Peggy’s Place” again on Tuesday, Feb.  21 following an earthquake earlier that morning which alarmed local residents.

Listen now  (56 minutes) to this discussion of earthquakes from a geologist’s vantage point.

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed on “Peggy’s Place” on Tuesday, Feb. 14th (for the entire hour), the official launch date for Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast — Exploring the Coastal Geology of Northern California.

Listen now (47 minutes)

Newspaper article: “Author to unveil coastal geology guide.”

Click here to read the article.

Open Space article (guest column) 2/9/2017: “The threat of offshore drilling” by Thomas Cochrane.

Click here to read the article (low resolution for on-screen viewing only).

Thomas Cochrane is available for print & broadcast interviews.

Media Relations:

(Ms.) “Sam” Jernigan, publicist
Renaissance Consultations
email:  [email protected]
cell:  530.362.1339


Download Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast‘s 1-page overview

Download Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil’s 1-page overview

(NOTE:  .pdf’s will open in a new browser window/tab)

Prior Events

Thomas Cochrane was interviewed by Joel Crockett (Manager of Four-Eyed Frog Books) on KTDE-FM radio on January 31 for a 30-minute segment discussing his newest book, Entwined — In Mystery & Murder…x 2

Four-Eyed Frog Books named Tom’s first book, Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast it’s #1 Bestselling Book of 2017. (.pdf will open in new window)

OETA TV logo, Oklahoma's PBS stationOETA, Oklahoma’s PBS network, profiled  Thomas Cochrane and Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil for a segment on their Oklahoma News Report (ONR), seen statewide.

Watch the segment here (link will open in new window).

 

An author event was hosted by Barnes & Noble for Thomas Cochrane in Oklahoma City, OK — the setting for the majority of Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil (where he lived for close to 25 years). This free public event was held at the bookstore located at 6100 North May Avenue on Thursday, June 27th with appx. three dozen attendees.

The Book Editor for The Oklahoman — the state’s largest newspaper —  invited Thomas Cochrane to be a guest for their brand new podcast, Book Marks, (see left-hand column for the newspaper’s recent review of Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil).

Book Editor, Ken Raymond, also interviewed him for a feature article on his book and this homecoming visit of his to Oklahoma which ran in the Sunday edition of The Oklahoman:

LISTEN to the 25-minute podcast & READ the article (links will open in new browser windows)

KGOU-FM (PBS, NPR) interviewed Thomas Cochrane during his visit to Oklahoma City. They taped the segment in-studio and it was subsequently aired multiple times prior to his Barnes & Noble author event (June 27th).

The interview was also aired on their network of affiliate radio stations which collectively serve more than one million residents of central, southeastern, and western Oklahoma:

106.3 Norman l 105.7 Oklahoma City-Spencer l 106.9 Chickasha l 105.1 Shawnee l 103.1 Seminole l 97.9 & 91.9 Ada l 89.1 Clinton l 88.1 Woodward

The interview was featured on their website so you can listen to it and/or read the transcript HERE (link will open in new window).

 

attendees for talk with author and geologist Thomas Cochrane at Sonoma Valley Historical Society March 2019

 

Thomas Cochrane was invited to address the Sonoma Valley Historical Society at their monthly meeting in March and spoke about coastal geology including a Q&A.

The event attracted a sizable audience at the Sonoma Community Center (75+ according to the organizers).

The Sonoma Index-Tribune wrote an article about the speaking event sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, “Intricacies and Oddities of the Sonoma Coast.”

Read the article here

Point Arena Lighthouse

Point Arena Lighthouse invited Thomas Cochrane to be a guest for their popular Lighthouse Lecture Series held on June 16th.  He discussed the geology around Point Arena Lighthouse including  past and present threats to the area:  erosion, sea level rise, offshore and onshore oil drilling, as well as the history of the proposed nuclear power plant, and also autographed copies of his book.

The Rotary Club of Sebastopol invited Thomas Cochrane to address their organization at their lunch meeting March 9th during which he discussed the coastal geology of Sonoma County, answered questions about plate tectonics (earthquakes), and autographed copies of his book.

The Rotary Club of Mendocino County invited Thomas Cochrane to address their organization’s recent meeting during which he discussed the coastal geology of Mendocino, answered questions about plate tectonics (earthquakes), and autographed copies of his book.

Coast Community Library in Point Arena

On December 17th, Mendocino County’s Coast Community Library hosted Thomas Cochrane for their monthly “Sunday @ the Library” event. He gave a talk about the geology around Point Arena including the oil sands in Arena Cove as well as the new trail at Pelican Beach.

Thomas Cochrane geo talk hosted by Coast Community Library, Point Arena.
Sonoma Land Trust

Sonoma Land Trust invited Thomas Cochrane to help lead the coastal portion of their annual Geology Transect of Sonoma County  this year — he gave an introductory presentation on Thursday, September 7th @ 7:00 p.m., and the coastal hike occurred on Friday, September 8th.

 

On September 9th, Copperfield’s Books (Santa Rosa store) hosted an in-store author event & geo talk by Thomas Cochrane  entitled “Exploring the Geology Along Our Coastal Trails” after which he autographed copies of Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park

On Sunday, September 10th Sugarloaf Ridge State Park hosted a geo talk  by Thomas Cochrane  in the park’s Observatory entitled “Exploring Sonoma County’s Geology” after which he autographed copies of Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.

Gallery Bookshop in downtown Mendocino hosted an in-store author event & geo talk by Thomas Cochrane on Sunday, August 6th entitled, “Exploring the Geology Along Our Coastal Trails” after which he autographed copies of Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.

Copperfield’s Books (Sebastopol store) hosted an in-store meet ‘n greet event on Saturday, June 17th featuring Thomas Cochrane  during which he autographed copies of Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.

Sonoma Outfitters (Montgomery Village) hosted an in-store event on Saturday, June 10 with Thomas Cochrane during which he answered questions on local coastal geology and signed copies of Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast.

Friends of Point Arena – Stornetta Lands, the Bureau of Land Management and the Point Arena Light Keepers hosted “Discover Our Lands” on Saturday, June 3 and  Thomas Cochrane led one of four 1-hour hikes from the Point Arena Lighthouse to the mouth of the Garcia River, discussing the local geology en route. The other three hike topics that afternoon were led by others and focused on birds, native plants, and cultural resources.

 

Friends of Point Arena Stornetta Lands & Moat Creek Managing Agency hosted a hike led by Thomas Cochrane on Saturday, May 20th to tour the unique geology of Moat Creek with an additional 1/2 mile hike offered to famous Bowling Ball Beach. This event was also a fundraiser for the Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition.

 

Action Network hosted a free event for the public at Gualala Point Regional Park (42401 Highway 1) on Saturday, April 15th from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.  Thomas Cochrane led a walk out onto the sand bar and discussed the local coastal terrain.

Thomas Cochrane was a featured speaker at the Dine With Local Authors event on Monday, March 13, at Gaia’s Garden (1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa).

In this salon setting, the public is invited to learn more about a specific writer and his or her process and become inspired by the cumulative creativity of the group.

An author event was hosted by Four-Eyed Frog (Gualala) for Thomas Cochrane on Saturday, February 18th @ 4:00 p.m. for the launch of his new book Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast — Exploring the Coastal Geology of Northern California.

The store owner provided these photos and indicated the event was packed with 60+ attendees (!).

Interested in having author Thomas Cochrane address your club or organization on the mysteries of plate tectonics, earthquakes and other geological mysteries? Kindly get in touch

Or BUY now….at 45+ local stores or

JUST published:

Thomas Cochrane’s second book, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil — A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for “Black Gold”.

Available regionally at Copperfield’s Books and Four-Eyed Frog Books and can be ordered nationwide by any bookstore….OR:

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