In the summer of 1969, an event took place which would fundamentally change the course of history. Legendary astronaut Neal Armstrong proclaimed it to be "One giant leap for mankind." Ironically, on that same day, Mr. Armstrong became the first human being to set foot upon the Moon, but he was, of course, referring to the arrival into the world of artist, scholar, philosopher, bard, supra-genius, and all-around great guy Patrick M. Roach.

Mr. Roach moved in 1975 with his family from a posh Tudor Revival mansion in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, to a run-down and slightly creepy farmhouse south of Ann Arbor. Attending Saline High School, the True Way was laid before him by his older brother, Steve, a veritable legend in his own mind. Mr. Roach studied Latin, played french horn in the wind ensemble, and was editor-in-chief of the notorious underground school newspaper.

Throughout and beyond those high school glory days, he has been cartooning, creatively writing, and in all other ways kicking around without much purpose to his life. The smash release of 1986: A Band Odyssey, a chronicle of a high school band trip gone horribly wrong, propelled him to stardom and helped pay for college. The work was heralded as literary genius by some, and exploitative tripe by others, but nonetheless was widely received. He developed other comic strips and characters, including the beloved Kal and Slimeball of Starracer Adventures, the unparalleled exploits of Biffman and the ever popular Captain Wolly serial. (Well, they were popular with a few people, at least. I mean, how can you judge the popularity of something by the number of people who like it?)

Attending the University of Michigan, Mr. Roach discovered that eating regularly and sleeping somewhere other than in an abandoned car were more important than cartooning to him ("suffer for your art," my blankity-blank!). Again following in the True Way of his older brother Steve, he began a curriculum of Classical Studies in Latin and Greek, with the ultimate intention of becoming a lawyer, having a stable career and earning a boatload of money. However, in a dangerous moment of unforgiveable infidelity to the True Way, he made the mortal and irreversible decisions to enroll in the Residential College at Michigan, live in East Quad and participate for a brief stint in the Society for Creative Anachronism. These were activities not engaged in by his older brother Steve, and this sojourn from the True Way seriously damaged any chance of the "lawyer with a boatload of money" outcome. However, the alternative educational concepts of the Residential College, the ever-present contact-buzz from merely breathing the air at East Quad, and the constant whacks on the head resulting from battling with rattan sticks while wearing medieval armor would all have a profound impact on his present creative outlook.

A conversation with noted Historic Preservation architect Richard C. Frank, FAIA, tempted him to further divergence from the True Way. But when the Godfather of preservation architecture says, "Hey, kid, that's a pretty good drawing - you should be an architect," one listens. Mr. Roach applied for admission to the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, a move which was the final nail in the coffin for the "boatload of money" future. Achieving the vaunted degree of Bachelor of Science in Architecture (they don't call it a B.S. for nothing), he got out of school as fast as he could run, eventually finding employment with an architecture firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But, the lure of the academic life again tightened its grip upon him (along with some not-so-subtle hints from his employers that they wanted him to advance in his architectural career), and he returned to school, obtaining a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan in 1996, afterward swearing a blood oath never, ever to return to school again.

Today, when not producing fabulous works of inspired artistic achievement for this web site, he is producing fabulous works of inspired architectural achievement for a nationally-recognized historic preservation architecture firm.