Patricia Morin

About Pat

My husband, Larry, and I moved back to the mainland after six years in Honolulu, Hawaii. Instead of returning to our old neighborhood in Grand View, New York, we have settled into the warmth of California. We live in San Francisco with our Lab/Australian Cattle dog mix, Tayya, and two Betta fish, Danka and Shane.

I was a psychotherapist near Nyack, New York, for twenty-six years, with a master’s in Counseling Psychology and in Social Work (New York-board certified). Larry was a Senior Vice President for Fidelity Investments on Wall Street. We loved the people and the seasons, although we had a difficult time with the cold.

We married in 1991, and ran the New York Marathon (Larry’s fourth marathon--my first and last). I would have never finished if it weren’t for Larry running by my side, and the encouragement of the people lining the streets. Twenty-six miles of citizens yelling their support gave me the incentive I needed to finish.  

In 1993, I earned my single-engine pilot’s license. I flew a Cessna 172, a very reliable and common high-wing plane. As I flew alone thousands of feet above the earth, I would feel like I was gliding on the wings of angels. It’s tough not being able to ask for directions, though. On my first solo flight, I thought I was upstate New York but was actually near Philadelphia, PA. You can imagine my surprise, and the surprise of the control tower that hooked onto my signal.
 
I earned my certification in American Herbs from Rosemary Gladstar’s Sage Mountain herbal school in 2001. My interest in herbalism started when I picked up a magazine called Prevention and read an article about coughs. One of my clients always had a scratchy throat and, although he did not smoke, it was constantly dry. The article recommended Slippery Elm to moisten the area, and decrease the cough and dry throat. My suggestion to try the herb was a success, and I continued reading more and more about the nature of herbs and their applications. Eventually, I integrated my growing knowledge into my practice. Two Tibetan doctor friends taught me about Traditional Chinese Medicine, and I have continued my herbal studies through Michael Tierra’s East/West School in Santa Cruz, CA.

Larry and I have always had fun and zany pets. We recently rescued a mixed Australian Cattle Dog, Lab, and Terrier. She’s forty pounds of sweetness. She loves people and animals. She sits on command, brings the ball back to you, and is already housebroken. Did we luck out! We named her Tayya. My aunt and uncle Googled the name and wondered about its history. It seems to be a proper noun in every language but English. Tayya, however, is a combination of our two favorite dogs’ names, Gaia (pronounced Gaya) and Tanya. It was fun playing around with all the combinations of those two names.

Besides writing fiction and nonfiction novels and books, short stories, and plays, I am involved with the Lacanian Psychoanalytic Institute in San Francisco, and continue my work and support of CAPA: Children’s Aid Program of Africa(Kenya). I have also created anf facilitated The Literary Project, an after-school program that helps middle-school students (interested in becoming authors) learn about the different writing genres. Authors come into the school and speak to the students about their genre, and then give them writing exercises in that specific genre.

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