Connor Freff Cochran (also mononymously Freff) is an author,

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

, and publisher as a founder of Conlan Press.

Career

Cochran originally founded the

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Conlan Press in

Montara, California Montara () is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 2,833 at the 2020 census. Nearby communities include Moss Beach and Princeton-by-the-Sea. Etymology ...

in 2005 to market and publish the works of

Peter Beagle Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is ''The Last Unicorn'' (1968) which ''Locus'' subscribers voted the number five "All-Time Best Fantasy Novel" ...

; in 2011, it was expanding to additional authors. By 2016, Cochran's self-published bio at Conlan Press also listed him as "an award-winning writer, artist, musician, producer, and performer ..comic book writer-artist ..and a graduate of the

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College was an American circus school which trained around 1,400 clowns in the "Ringling style" from its founding in 1968 until its closure in 1997. History Clown College was the brainchild of Irvin Fe ...

Creative work

Credited as Freff, Cochran designed the

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

for ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'' January and March 1975 issues.

Non-fiction

In 1984, Cochran was a US-based

for

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's TV series ''

Micro Live ''Micro Live'' is a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as '' The Computer Programme'', '' Computers in Control'', and '' Making the Most of th ...

'' (credited as "Freff"), reporting on

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...

and computing in the United States. By 1993 and through at least 2000, Cochran wrote

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

s in a series called ''Creative Options''; entrants were published in ''Keyboard'' magazine and the bulletin of the

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is an American nonprofit organization working to raise awareness and understanding of psychedelic substances. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin and is now based in San Jose, C ...

. Cochran wrote the

owner's manual An owner's manual (also called an instruction manual or a user guide) is an instructional book or booklet that is supplied with almost all technologically advanced consumer products such as vehicles, home appliances and computer peripheral ...

s for

Alesis Alesis is an American company that designs and markets electronic musical instruments, audio processors, mixers, amplifiers, audio interfaces, recording equipment, drum machines, professional audio, and electronic percussion products. Based ...

' NanoPiano and NanoBass, and while the style of their prose was praised in 1998 by ''

Electronic Musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

'', they were also found lacking in a technical sense.

Peter S. Beagle

By 2011, Cochran was the publisher for Peter S. Beagle, author of the 1968 novel ''

The Last Unicorn ''The Last Unicorn'' is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968, by Viking Press in the U.S. and The Bodley Head in the U.K. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the ...

''. Cochran himself was featured on the

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

for ''The Last Unicorn''

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, noted for "repeatedly plugging of a ''Last Unicorn'' comic". In early 2016, Cochran was listed as a publisher and executive editor for Conlan Press, a publishing house he founded that described itself as "launched in 2005 as a way to help author Peter S. Beagle". In 2015, Beagle

sued A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

Cochran for (equivalent to about $M in ), "disgorgement of illegal gains and restitution, and dissolution of two corporations he co-owns with Cochran, Avicenna Development Corporation, and Conlan Press, Inc." On June 21, 2019, Judge Michael M. Markman of the

Alameda County Superior Court The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions ...

found in favor of Beagle, awarding attorneys' fees plus for " financial elder abuse,

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

breach of fiduciary duty A fiduciary is a person who holds a Law, legal or ethical relationship of Trust (social sciences), trust with one or more other Party (law), parties (legal person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other ...

, and

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

." In his decision, Markman said of Cochran, " epresents as an extremely intelligent, articular, overly-aggressive hustler and pitch-man. Cochran's written work product attempting to promote Beagle's work is written as Cochran speaks – with a flair for the dramatic that is at best loosely based in truth." On March 23, 2021, Beagle regained from Cochran the

intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

to his works. Despite discharging his debts to Beagle via

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, Cochran appealed his sentence "as a means of disputing Beagle's claims of financial elder abuse, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and defamation." In December 2021, a

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

did not rule on the matter, dismissing his appeal as moot.

Published works

* * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochran, Connor Freff 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century publishers (people) 21st-century publishers (people) foreign correspondents year of birth missing (living people)