Spouse:
- Violet Claire Atwood m. 6 Mar 1944, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
---
Blake Cochran was born in Wilmot, Kansas, and went to school in nearby Winfield where he received a B. A. degree from Southwestern College. He taught high school for three years in Eldorado and Winfield, and during this time he also coached speech and drama, an interest which he was to retain throughout his life. Years later, during his tour of duty in Amman, Jordan, friends who served with him remember the considerable style shown in his reading of the President's Thanksgiving Proclamation to a community audience.
He went to graduate school at Columbia University, earning his master's degree and a Doctorate in Education. Combining his studies with work for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, he wrote and directed a number of educational films. Recently during a 25th Anniversary celebration at Britannica, they wrote him that one of his film series - - a four-part series on life on an American farm - - is still among the most active titles in their film library.
After two years with the American Council on Education, writing and editing educational publications, Blake joined the Cultural Affairs Office of the State Department in 1939. With a two-year interruption for Navy service during World War II, he made the rest of his career in State and USIA, serving in Washington and abroad. His foreign service posts included Athens, Cairo, Amman, Madras, Rhodes and Monrovia. In Rhodes he established and directed the Voice of America Arabic Program Center and in Monrovia the African Program Center.
His last assignment was in Washington in the Near East and South Asia Division of the Voice of America. He always enjoyed the Voice because as he put it - that's where the action is. Throughout his life, Blake continued his interest in matters of the mind. during much of his spare time this past summer and fall he had researched new literature on the life of Thomas Jefferson, and recently presented a paper on the subject to a Book Review Group of which he has been a member for more than 30 years. As a memorial to Blake, his family and friends have established a scholarship in the American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund.
A man of modesty and strongly-held principles, he had an abundance of compassion and personal warmth which he tried -- unsuccessfully – to hide behind a screen of gentle humor. Even as we grieve for him, we must be thankful for those times that he shared with us. May the memory of his goodness help us all, his family and his friends, in our time of sorrow.
(contributed by the Estate of Carolyn A. Burdick, close friend of Blake and Claire Cochran)
Biography submitted by: Charlie Cole
- Violet Claire Atwood m. 6 Mar 1944, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
---
Blake Cochran was born in Wilmot, Kansas, and went to school in nearby Winfield where he received a B. A. degree from Southwestern College. He taught high school for three years in Eldorado and Winfield, and during this time he also coached speech and drama, an interest which he was to retain throughout his life. Years later, during his tour of duty in Amman, Jordan, friends who served with him remember the considerable style shown in his reading of the President's Thanksgiving Proclamation to a community audience.
He went to graduate school at Columbia University, earning his master's degree and a Doctorate in Education. Combining his studies with work for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, he wrote and directed a number of educational films. Recently during a 25th Anniversary celebration at Britannica, they wrote him that one of his film series - - a four-part series on life on an American farm - - is still among the most active titles in their film library.
After two years with the American Council on Education, writing and editing educational publications, Blake joined the Cultural Affairs Office of the State Department in 1939. With a two-year interruption for Navy service during World War II, he made the rest of his career in State and USIA, serving in Washington and abroad. His foreign service posts included Athens, Cairo, Amman, Madras, Rhodes and Monrovia. In Rhodes he established and directed the Voice of America Arabic Program Center and in Monrovia the African Program Center.
His last assignment was in Washington in the Near East and South Asia Division of the Voice of America. He always enjoyed the Voice because as he put it - that's where the action is. Throughout his life, Blake continued his interest in matters of the mind. during much of his spare time this past summer and fall he had researched new literature on the life of Thomas Jefferson, and recently presented a paper on the subject to a Book Review Group of which he has been a member for more than 30 years. As a memorial to Blake, his family and friends have established a scholarship in the American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund.
A man of modesty and strongly-held principles, he had an abundance of compassion and personal warmth which he tried -- unsuccessfully – to hide behind a screen of gentle humor. Even as we grieve for him, we must be thankful for those times that he shared with us. May the memory of his goodness help us all, his family and his friends, in our time of sorrow.
(contributed by the Estate of Carolyn A. Burdick, close friend of Blake and Claire Cochran)
Biography submitted by: Charlie Cole
Spouse:
- Violet Claire Atwood m. 6 Mar 1944, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
---
Blake Cochran was born in Wilmot, Kansas, and went to school in nearby Winfield where he received a B. A. degree from Southwestern College. He taught high school for three years in Eldorado and Winfield, and during this time he also coached speech and drama, an interest which he was to retain throughout his life. Years later, during his tour of duty in Amman, Jordan, friends who served with him remember the considerable style shown in his reading of the President's Thanksgiving Proclamation to a community audience.
He went to graduate school at Columbia University, earning his master's degree and a Doctorate in Education. Combining his studies with work for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, he wrote and directed a number of educational films. Recently during a 25th Anniversary celebration at Britannica, they wrote him that one of his film series - - a four-part series on life on an American farm - - is still among the most active titles in their film library.
After two years with the American Council on Education, writing and editing educational publications, Blake joined the Cultural Affairs Office of the State Department in 1939. With a two-year interruption for Navy service during World War II, he made the rest of his career in State and USIA, serving in Washington and abroad. His foreign service posts included Athens, Cairo, Amman, Madras, Rhodes and Monrovia. In Rhodes he established and directed the Voice of America Arabic Program Center and in Monrovia the African Program Center.
His last assignment was in Washington in the Near East and South Asia Division of the Voice of America. He always enjoyed the Voice because as he put it - that's where the action is. Throughout his life, Blake continued his interest in matters of the mind. during much of his spare time this past summer and fall he had researched new literature on the life of Thomas Jefferson, and recently presented a paper on the subject to a Book Review Group of which he has been a member for more than 30 years. As a memorial to Blake, his family and friends have established a scholarship in the American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund.
A man of modesty and strongly-held principles, he had an abundance of compassion and personal warmth which he tried -- unsuccessfully – to hide behind a screen of gentle humor. Even as we grieve for him, we must be thankful for those times that he shared with us. May the memory of his goodness help us all, his family and his friends, in our time of sorrow.
(contributed by the Estate of Carolyn A. Burdick, close friend of Blake and Claire Cochran)
Biography submitted by: Charlie Cole
- Violet Claire Atwood m. 6 Mar 1944, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
---
Blake Cochran was born in Wilmot, Kansas, and went to school in nearby Winfield where he received a B. A. degree from Southwestern College. He taught high school for three years in Eldorado and Winfield, and during this time he also coached speech and drama, an interest which he was to retain throughout his life. Years later, during his tour of duty in Amman, Jordan, friends who served with him remember the considerable style shown in his reading of the President's Thanksgiving Proclamation to a community audience.
He went to graduate school at Columbia University, earning his master's degree and a Doctorate in Education. Combining his studies with work for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, he wrote and directed a number of educational films. Recently during a 25th Anniversary celebration at Britannica, they wrote him that one of his film series - - a four-part series on life on an American farm - - is still among the most active titles in their film library.
After two years with the American Council on Education, writing and editing educational publications, Blake joined the Cultural Affairs Office of the State Department in 1939. With a two-year interruption for Navy service during World War II, he made the rest of his career in State and USIA, serving in Washington and abroad. His foreign service posts included Athens, Cairo, Amman, Madras, Rhodes and Monrovia. In Rhodes he established and directed the Voice of America Arabic Program Center and in Monrovia the African Program Center.
His last assignment was in Washington in the Near East and South Asia Division of the Voice of America. He always enjoyed the Voice because as he put it - that's where the action is. Throughout his life, Blake continued his interest in matters of the mind. during much of his spare time this past summer and fall he had researched new literature on the life of Thomas Jefferson, and recently presented a paper on the subject to a Book Review Group of which he has been a member for more than 30 years. As a memorial to Blake, his family and friends have established a scholarship in the American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund.
A man of modesty and strongly-held principles, he had an abundance of compassion and personal warmth which he tried -- unsuccessfully – to hide behind a screen of gentle humor. Even as we grieve for him, we must be thankful for those times that he shared with us. May the memory of his goodness help us all, his family and his friends, in our time of sorrow.
(contributed by the Estate of Carolyn A. Burdick, close friend of Blake and Claire Cochran)
Biography submitted by: Charlie Cole
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