Patricia Janus

Who was Patricia Janus?

Patricia "Pat" Janus was an American poet, artist, and educator.

Born Patricia O'Brien to Thomas and Rose O'Brien, she was raised in New York City where she worked for a brokerage firm. She met John "Jack" Janus, whom she married in the early 1950s. Her husband went on to become a pharmacist, and his work eventually transplanted the family to Rochester, NY.

Her work appeared in numerous literary publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, Yankee, The National Catholic Reporter and American Poetry Review, and was anthologized in several volumes, including Summer Songs, Knocking on the Silence, and The Pinnacle Hill Review. Her collection Love in the Time of Anthrax was released by FootHills Publishing in 2005. Her last volume is Synchronicity, published by FootHills in June, 2006.

She was a member of Rochester Poets since the late 1960s and served the organization in several posts, including more than one term as president.

She was also a member of a group of Rochester artists who meet weekly as the Artists' Breakfast Group in the cafeteria of the Bausch & Lomb headquarters in Rochester.