James Hopper (writer)

James Marie Hopper (July 23, 1876 – August 28, 1956) was an American writer and novelist. He was also an early college football player and coach, playing at the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1890s and then serving single seasons as head football coach at Nevada State University—now known as the University of Nevada, Reno—in 1900 and at his alma mater, California, in 1904. During his lifetime, Hopper published 450 short stories and six novels.

Early life, education, and college football career

Hopper was born on July 23, 1876, in Paris, France, to John Joseph Hopper, a native of Ireland, and his wife, Victoire Blanche Lefebvre. He attended schooling in Paris and later immigrated to the United States with his mother to California, where he completed his preliminary education.

Hopper graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with the class of 1898. While at Berkeley, he played football and first as an end and later at quarterback. He completed law school at the Hastings Law School. He passed the state bar examination but never practiced law. Instead he worked as a reporter on the ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' and was on the staff of ''The Wave,'' a literary San Francisco weekly.

In 1900, Hopper was hired to coach football at Nevada State University—now known as the University of Nevada, Reno. He led the 1900 Nevada State Sagebrushers football team to a record of 4–2–1 including a win over Stanford.

Hopper married Mattie E. Leonard on September 21, 1901, at her father's San Francisco residence, Joseph E. Leonard, and her mother. The coupled honeymooned to Southern California.

Writing career

After coaching at the University of California in 1904, Hopper was sent to the Philippines, by the ''McClure's'' magazine, to write a new book. When they returned to the United States, Hopper joined the McClure's staff in San Francisco. He then became a reporter for ''The San Francisco Call'' at the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He ended up staying there for two years to teach school. Hopper first met Herman Whitaker, George Sterling, and Jack London at Whitaker's home in Piedmont, California.

In 1907, he and his wife moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California where his good friend, George Sterling, had established "Bohemia-by-the Sea". There he rented a cottage on Dolores and 9th Avenue, by the beach where he published stories that he hoped to sell to magazines. In 1913, Hopper and his wife purchased George Sterling's cottage, when Sterling returned to San Francisco. The house burned down in 1924 and he rebuilt it on the same site with thermotite cement blocks, a locally produced fireproof building material. In 1938, Hopper sold the house to John P. Gilbert and his wife, the parents of Mrs. Ungaretti.

In Carmel many of his close associates were friends from his encounters at Coppa's “bohemian” restaurant in San Francisco, including Harry Leon Wilson, Xavier Martinez, Arnold Genthe, painter Francis McComas and his wife Gene as well as Perry Newberry, Mary Hunter Austin, and Sinclair Lewis. An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website. He was also friends with writer Frederick R. Bechdolt. Together, they wrote the fictional novel '' 9009'' about the condition of American prisons and the need for reform.

Hopper was close friends with novelist Jack London. In April 1907, London was aboard his boat, ''the Snark,'' when he held the sleeve of a football sweater with his wife Charmian, and Hopper. The Londons were prepared to embark on a round-the-world cruise. London hoisted his old friend's jersey up the mast and flew it like a flag as the ''Snark'' sailed past the Golden Gate and out of San Francisco Bay.

When he left Carmel he returned to Oakland to write stories of his Philippine adventures for ''Sunset'' and other magazines.

Hopper gained United States citizenship in 1917. During World War I, he worked as a correspondent for ''Collier's'' magazine. At the end of the war, he became a full-time Carmel resident. He was active at the Forest Theater and the Abalone League in Carmel.

During the Great Depression in the United States, he served in the WPA's Federal Writers' Project as a state director and later as the northern regional director.

Death

Hopper died at his Carmel home on August 28, 1956, at age 80. Funeral services were held in Pacific Grove, California.

Gallery

File:George Sterling, James Hopper, Harry Leon Wilson, London. Bohemian Grove (cropped).jpg, George Sterling, James Hopper, Harry Leon Wilson, London. Bohemian Grove
File:James Hopper (1899) at University of California.jpg, James Hopper (1899) at University of California
File:James Hopper, Herman Scheffauer, Harry Lafler, and George Sterling at the Bohemian Grove (1907).jpg, James Hopper, Herman Scheffauer, Harry Lafler, and George Sterling at the Bohemian Grove (1907)
File:Abalone League players.jpg, Abalone League players

Head coaching record

Works

* "The Proud Dig and the Lazy Student" (1901) (short story published by A. M. Robertson)
* '' Caybigan'' (1906) (short stories)
* '' 9009'' (1908)
* ''The Trimming of Goosie'' (1909)
* ''The Freshman'' (1912)
* ''What Happened in the Night, and Other Stories'' (1913) (short stories)
* ''Coming Back With the Spitball, a Pitcher's Romance'' (1914)
* ''Medals Of Honor'' (1929) illus. John Alan Maxwell

Short works from magazines

References

External links

*
*
*
*

Interview with James Hopper

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, James
1876 births
1956 deaths
19th-century players of American football
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American novelists
American football ends
American football quarterbacks
California Golden Bears football coaches
California Golden Bears football players
Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches
San Francisco Chronicle people
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni
Sportspeople from Paris
Coaches of American football from California
Players of American football from Monterey County, California
French emigrants to the United States
French people of Irish descent
French players of American football