PAT O'BRYAN--THE EARLY YEARS

Pat O'Bryan was born in 1955 in the heather-covered hills of Southern Texas. Here, making music comes second-nature to the native people. (Drinking and smoking come first.) As you can see in this very early photo of the infant Pat O'Bryan, he was mastering the guitar by the time he was able to sit up.

Pat's parents, Rosey and Shamus O'Bryan, were always eager to encourage Pat in his musical career. Many a time, when they left a bar they frequented, they left young Pat behind so he could continue soaking up musical inspiration. In this way, Pat  gained vast musical knowledge and an almost supernatural ability to predict the next tune in a jukebox rotation.

Pat's parents, now in their Golden Years, are proud of the influence they had on their beloved son. In this photo, Rosey laughs with delight while recounting how she taught then 2-yearl old Pat to roll his own cigars when the boy reached for her's, demanding "Moke! Moke!"

Pat's father, Shamus, well-known inventor of the question mark, says he taught his son to be creative and inventive, skills that has served both the O'Bryans well for a lifetime. Here, Shamus shows off his clever idea for saving money on underwear by recycling plastic bags.

Shamus says Pat had a perfectly normal childhood that gave no indication his son would one day  be regarded as a visionary. The only incident Shamus recalls that made him think Pat was "special" was a time when Pat, like so many teens, had some questions about his sexuality. "It was just a phase," says Shamus, showing us a photo of then 14-year old Pat. "Didn't last no more'an twenty years."

Shamus was quick to encourage young Pat to engage in manly activities like hunting. The two often road into the Texas hills, talking, smoking their beloved cigars and looking for wild game. Here's a photo Shamus shared with us, showing father and son coming home after a successful hunt. We'll bet there was a big 'ol Texas-style barbecue that night!

In addition to his many chores, young Pat also worked musical "gigs." The money he made playing guitar outside brothels was an important contribution to the family income. But when money was especially tight, Pat would take any kind of work offered him. On one memorable occasion, young Pat was hired as an extra by a movie crew filming in a near-by town. In the movie ad shown below, Pat is the second bucket head from the left. We can't help wondering if the title of that movie didn't somehow influence Pat's adult vision of his "Portable Empire."

PAT O'BRYAN- THE COMPUTER YEARS

Pat inevitably came into contact with computers, and it is here the story of Pat The Visionary truly begins. It was at community college, while completing a rigorous study course in Roadkill Retrieval, that Pat was introduced to the man that would change his destiny. Professor Gus Gates often claimed bitterly that his nephew Bill had stolen the Professor's early sketches for what he called a "portable computer," one that could be carried about by the user. He shared this story with Pat and a vision was ignited!

Inspired by Professor Gate's story, Pat abandoned college and built what many believe was the first truly portable computer. The photo below documents the first time Pat ever took his new "backtop," as he called it, on the road. Here you see the momentous first steps Pat took into the lifestyle that he would eventually christen "My Portable Empire."

After an exhausting road trip which took him from Texas to another part of Texas, Pat came to the conclusion that his idea of the Portable Empire needed some refining. The basic concept, he knew, was sound, but he'd overlooked one significant factor--shoe leather was not the only means of transporting his Portable Empire!

Pat went back to the workbench and some months later unveiled this, his refined vision of the gasoline-powered Portable Empire. Although crude by today's standards, this  prototype gave Pat exactly what he needed- a real working model of exactly how the Portable Empire could-and one day would- function.

This prototype Portable Empire is currently part of the traveling exhibit "Pat O'Bryan: I'm Not Home Right Now--When You Hear The Beep"

What is becoming clear through our research here at the Cult of Pat is that Pat O'Bryan, in his travels, met and had a profound impact on many important and influential people. Some of these apocryphal stories are well-known, such as the time Pat helped Al Gore invent the Internet. However, as Pat was never one to seek out the spotlight, many other stories remain untold. It is our goal here at the Cult of Pat to bring these lesser-known and even hidden events to light so that the full story of Pat O'Bryan's influence on the world can be fully told.

One of the most recent acquisitions to our research library here at the Cult of Pat are two photographs which seem to show a meeting between Pat O'Bryan and the artist Andy Warhol. The date these photos were taken is uncertain and still being investigated.

Photo Number 1:   Pat O'Bryan and Andy Warhol at lunch.

Photo Number 2: Andy autographs the neck of Pat's guitar.

If it can be verified that these  photos were taken after the artist's supposed "death" in 1987 it would prove that, as many have suspected, the artist did indeed fake his own death. It would also prove, coincidentally, that this print known as "Pat X 2" and owned by the Cult is not a fake but a nearly priceless piece of pop art!

"Pat X 2" is available through our gift shop printed on lovely t-shirts, baby bibs and tote bags.

New information about the Life of Pat O'Bryan is always being added to the Timeline. If you have photos, stories or information about the Life of Pat that you would like to share with the Cult, please contact us at this email address:  obrother@thecultofpat.com