Jeffrey Hope
This is the part where Amazon says we are supposed to say Jeffrey Hope "grew up."
No one here is convinced. Got older? Sure. Grew up? Hmmm.....
What we mean is...he rides a unicycle, never misses a Pixar movie and wears Disney ties at work...like that's a normal?!
If you want to roll your eyes, we get that. 100%.
But I suppose we should go over the normal stuff Amazon wants us to put here.
He was born in Bangor, Maine. Then from second grade on he lived in mid-coast Maine. In fifth grade his parents made the horrific decision to buy him his first drum, which he loved. This would drive his brother and sister crazy for years, but luckily they lived too far away from anyone else to notice the racket, so only his closest family suffered. It may also explain why his father is currently hard of hearing, but who knows.
Much like the characters in the book, the family's house was on a tidal cove. In the summer months the Hope kids had access to a rowboat and a canoe, which each launched a thousand adventures.
But it was the grandparent's sailboat that left the biggest impression on Jeffrey and his family. It had four bunks, a gas stove and was big enough to go on over-night adventures. It was also too small to bring along a drum kit, so...huge win.
The sailboat, named the Scoter, allowed the family to venture far from the comfort of their quiet bay. Summer after summer the family sailed up and down the Maine coast visiting harbors, islands and generally messing about. The Hope's have a hundred stories from those years and it's likely that at least a couple are worth hearing, provided you like that kind of thing.
So Hope kept drumming, got a music degree and quickly realized the Rolling Stones were not going to call him anytime soon. So he doubled down on another interest- story telling...and got a degree in journalism.
After an award winning journalism career in Maine and Alaska, Hope decided he wanted to try teaching the next generation of journalists. He is still doing that, at least every time we check on him.
