By DAVID TELLER
Staff Reporter
Sometimes a good story does more than entertain, it also educates and enlightens.
Local author Vern Hopkins has re-released his first book, “It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time,” which is a biography, “kind of.” Along with his other book, “Rope Burns and Roses,” the two are compilations of life stories he wrote.
The life stories are from his childhood growing up in the Spokane Valley, during the Great Depression and Word War II, from working on a ranch in Montana, to working at Playfair to camping and hunting. According to the back of one of his books, his life is a combination of the five Rs: ranching, rodeoing, racing, road building and retirement.
The Spokane-born Hopkins worked on cattle ranches for 30 years and he also spent 25 years training racehorses at Playfair, some of which belonged to Harold McCollum, who owned McCollum Ford. Hopkins also worked for the state highway department until he retired in 1979. He is an avid hunter and loves camping.
“I've had a lot of experiences over the years,” Hopkins said.
He always dabbled in writing but never really took it seriously until someone commented on the number of stories he had accumulated.
“It started looking like it ought to be a book,” he said. The grandfather of six did the next logical thing. He found a publisher.
His first volume is “It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time.” In it Hopkins talks about the exhilaration of seeing a pack of wolves in the Pasayten Wilderness, the fate of a rooster named “Tombstone” and an unexpected visitor “with red, beady-eyes” while Hopkins worked for the Forest Service Trail Crew. A Hopkins painting also graces the cover too.
In his second book, “Rope Burns and Roses,” Hopkins reflects on when he first met his wife, being a father for the first time, tangling wits with a Hereford bull and the trials of traveling with racehorses. He explains the title is symbolic of his experiences. He said roses are the good experiences and rope burns represent the “not-so good” experiences he has had.
Hopkins' charcoal drawings are illustrated artwork in both books.
All of the stories and the people in them are true, Hopkins said. Along with the stories and the art, he includes photographs, personal reflections, personal philosophy and some western-style poetry.
The books are in chronological order and the writing is clear, and unfettered. Some of the stories, Hopkins recalls, are about personal growth and struggles. Some are about the interesting people he met and others are anecdotal.
He still lives on a small farm near Four Lakes, has a trip planned this month and still goes on camping and hunting trips.
David Teller can be reached at [email protected]
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