Personal Life
Hoff grew up in Sylvan, Oregon, where he acquired a fondness of the natural world that has been highly influential in his writing. Hoff did all of his schooling in Oregon. He attended elementary and middle school in Sylvan and then travelled to Portland and attended both Benson Polytechnic and Lincoln High School. Hoff continued his schooling at the University of Oregon at Eugene and then the Museum Art School in Portland (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art). Hoff obtained a B.A. in Asian Art from The Evergreen State College in 1973. Hoff has also studied architecture, music, fine arts, graphic design and Asian Culture. His studies in Asian Culture included reaching the certificate level in the Japanese Tea Ceremony, had two years of apprenticeship in Japanese fine-pruning methods, and four years of instruction in the martial art form of T'ai chi ch'uan, including a year of Ch'i Kung (also known as Qigong). Prior to his career in writing, he worked as a tree pruner, antiques restorer, hospital orderly, investigative reporter, photojournalist, recording musician, singer, and songwriter. In the 1960s, Hoff helped form the rock/pop band, the United Travel Service. In his spare time, he practices Taoist Qigong and T'ai chi ch'uan. He enjoys playing classical guitar, composing music and taking nature photographs.
In 2006, Hoff published an essay on his website titled Farewell to Authorship, in which he denounced the publishing industry and announced his resignation from book-writing. This is the only website he has officially endorsed or been involved with. As of August 2010 the website displayed a series of letters sent between Hoff and staffers from the Oregon Historical Society, where Hoff criticizes the OHS produced, Oregon Experience: Opal Whiteley, claiming that many of the facts were ignored or untrue. Hoff wrote the 1986 book, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, a biography about Opal Whiteley which also includes her diary.
Hoff can be found in Who's Who in America and is one of only 55,000 people from 215 nations and territories listed in Who's Who in the World.
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