Rob Hopper moved to Marshall in 2022. He'd been mostly looking at Maine and Vermont, but had also been looking at places in Michigan to be near his sister's family. While watching The House with the Clock in Its Walls, he read about the author John Bellairs and stumbled upon the inspiration for the story's fictional town, quickly falling in love with it online. It was only after moving here that he discovered he was distantly related to both John Bellairs and Marshall's other famous author William Wallace Cook who wrote more than a thousand pulp fiction stories through the early 1900s. Rob now lives just up the street from Cousin Wally's former residence and the Cook Park that he donated to the city. He and his mom, Sharon, love their new town--the architecture, the arts, all the activities, and their neighbors. Thank you for welcoming us here.
Originally from Southern California, Rob graduated from San Diego State with a major in History and started the Santee Monthly local newspaper before launching the San Diego Playbill website for which he hosted annual theatre awards ceremonies for both adults and youth. In 2005 he moved to the area around Prescott, Arizona and began the National Youth Theatre Awards, later transitioning into National Youth Arts, holding up to fifteen awards ceremonies each summer in states from California to New York. He also wrote the near-future novel The Book of Adam: Autobiography of the First Human Clone. His second novel is coming soon and is directly inspired by his new home--a gothic near-future fantasy fused with weird history that features the blending of two towns: New Harmonia, a fictional city clearly similar to our own. And an older Harmonia, a historical town founded just outside Battle Creek by Hudson Valley spiritualists in the months following the death of Edgar Allan Poe.
Please feel free to reach out to me regarding potential additions, corrections, features, and events: rob@fountainfootlights.com
https://www.facebook.com/nationalyoutharts
https://www.instagram.com/robertmhopper/
Rob realizing there's no escaping the bonds forged in Marshall (at the American Museum of Magic).
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