Curtis Franklin Hopkins

Curtis Franklin Hopkins died suddenly in Willemstad, Curacao on February 27, 2024, while on a vacation to the Dutch Antilles island after surviving four rounds of cancer, a left lung lobectomy, and a removal of a tumor from his upper back. He had been in remission from cancer for a year. Curt was born in Mountain View, California on December 10, 1963. He was a dutiful son, loyal friend, and tenacious reporter of truth.

He is survived by his wife Susan Jacobson Hopkins of 35 years. They were college sweethearts and had met at the University of Oregon. Curt graduated from the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon in 1991; his honors thesis, a corona of sonnets about living in Granada, Spain, passed with distinction.

His surviving family includes: his brother Kevin Leroy Hopkins and wife Melanie Chandler Hopkins; his niece Blair Hopkins; his niece Allison Hopkins Anderson and her husband Kory and baby Sage; his niece Chandler Hopkins and her baby Olive; his nephew Darren Hopkins and his wife Heidi, his niece Emma Hopkins and her baby Richard; and his nephew Collin Hopkins; his Aunts: Denise Bowman, Debbie Bowman and Kathleen Bowman; his cousins Shelly Weatherford and Shawn Weatherford.

Curt was a remarkable man. He knew he wanted to be a writer from the age of 14. He was an intellectual and artistic activist. He used his words to speak truth to power and he wrote with such alacrity that after reading one of his poems, your personal vision could be transformed. He published poems in too many publications to list here, but a few of these publications include: Ars Technica, Cirque, Blaze Vox, The Awl, The Bastille, Exquisite Corpse, and Gloom Cupboard. His translations of the poetry of Rainier Maria Rilke, Fredrico Garcia Lorca, and Catullus have been used in academic studies of the poets.

Curt published two books of his own poetry: The Dog Watches and Other Poems, and Disease Days: Three Long Poems. His plays have been produced at the New City New Playwrights Festival in Seattle, and the Lord Leebrick Theater in Oregon. Curt believed in the healing power of art; he believed in that the communal art of producing a play had value beyond the monetary. He directed Sam Shepard's "True West" in Seattle and Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano" in Portland. Curt was the features editor for Emergency Horse Magazine, and a founding member of the Big Time Poetry Theatre.

Writing was like breathing for him. He wrote passionately about everything that fascinated him. As a journalist, he wrote stories that others didn't for newspapers and weeklies. He had a strong sense of justice, writing features about The Empress Norton in San Francisco, Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies in ways that always explored humane. He was writing a book about the History of Punk and Drag. And had written a proposal for a book on Federico Garcia Lorca. As a freelancer, he wrote about the CAFTA agreement in Latin America for Newsweek Magazine. He also wrote features for Old Oregon, now known as The Oregon Quarterly. While working at the radio station KLCC, his 2005 he interviewed the comedians: Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn and Patten Oswald about their documentary "The Comedians of Comedy" and his recorded interview is included in the extras of the documentary, because it was so well liked by the comedians. Most recently, he was a columnist for The Cryptosphere.

He had an ebullient personality and had a way of making each person feel special and understood in his presence. He always took the time to have meaningful conversations with others. As a young man, he taught English to Hmong and Laotian teenagers. Curt wrote to live. Curt was valued at the marketing firm where he worked for the last 8 years, Ready State Marketing LLC, for his clean fast writing style. He was also valued for his ability to mentor young writers. He instilled confidence in others and encouraged others embrace their own unique writing styles while taking ownership of projects. He wrote extensively about the ethics of AI and won awards for his writing as he worked as Senior Writer and a Managing Editor.

During the 2000s, after working for the Oregon Shakespeare Company, Curt was a staff writer for Read Write Web and a political reporter for The Daily Dot. He was sent to Kenya to write about AI and technology in Africa. During that time, he wrote a feature article about the movie: 'Punk in Africa' and interviewed the lead singer of the band National Wake, Ivan Kadey. He started a non-profit during this time, called the Committee to Protect Bloggers; this organization helped to save political dissidents, by creating grassroots letter writing campaigns and publishing citizen reports in the media. Because of his work with the Committee to Protect Bloggers, he was asked to teach a class on anonymous blogging at the Meridian International Institute in Washington D.C which is a teaching institute, it serves: the CIA, FBI and The Secret Service.

The son of Richard Hopkins, a senior chief in the Navy and a drug and alcoholism counselor for 40 years, Curt often spoke of how his father taught him how to be a man. Curt learned to take it day by day, leave no man behind, and be grateful for every moment. He will be missed forever and never forgotten by those who loved him.

A memorial is scheduled for April 28th, 2024 from 6-9PM at Lamb's Cottage in Skinner's Butte Park in Eugene, Oregon. In lieu of flowers, please click the link on the Legacy site to plant a tree in his honor.