Author of Rogue River Reprieve: an action novel
About Paul
Left unimpeded, a river meanders across a valley floor in sinuous curves that denote an unrestrained, free-flowing nature. Paul Hoobyar’s life has progressed with a similar rhythm.
After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley, Paul worked in social services, including a stint teaching incarcerated men in a county jail and helping them attain high school and GED diplomas. Paul’s life rounded a sharp bend when four years later he became a professional river guide.
For 14 years, Paul taught whitewater kayaking, and for 18 years he ran wilderness fly fishing trips on a covey of rivers in the Pacific Northwest, including the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, as well as fishing trips on the McKenzie, Deschutes and coastal rivers of Oregon.
During the off-season, Paul was a writer for outdoor magazines and newspapers and published wilderness adventure articles about river running, fishing and other outdoor activities These publications included accounts of first descents on previously unrun rivers, as well as destination pieces about river and sea kayak adventures in far-flung places. Paul also published articles that showcased environmental threats to wild places. As the years accumulated, Paul’s adventure travels reflected a more measured approach to adventure, and he wrote newspaper articles about fishing for exotic species in Brazil, Cuba, Argentina and other destinations.
In mid-life, Paul again made a major lifestyle change when he started a consulting firm and worked as a trained mediator and facilitator specializing in natural resource management and public policy. Clients included federal agencies such as the US Forest Service and NOAA Fisheries, where he worked on watershed and salmon habitat restoration projects. He also worked with state and local governmental entities, private industry, and watershed groups on natural resource and watershed management projects. After 24 years working with clients, Paul has retired from his consulting business to create new opportunities in the latest chapter of his life.
His latest endeavor has been writing and publishing a novel set in the Rogue River wilderness that integrates his love of wilderness and his outdoor experience with a concern about the environmental threats that face the future of wild places and healthy watersheds. Paul's path as a novelist is a recent addition to his life's journey.
Explore the following pages, where you can read previously published articles written for magazines and newspapers, as well as reviews and an overview of Paul’s novel, Rogue River Reprieve.
A Portfolio of Experience
I''ve been blessed in life with good health over the years and a skill set that allowed me to explore natural areas rarely visited. Whether making first descents down rivers previously unrun, or sea kayaking where whales frolic, i began to view this series of adventures as a portfolio of experiences. Below are some of the articles that either I wrote, or were written by others, of these exploits.
Investing in a portfolio of experiences isn't as renumerative as building a portfolio of financial investments, but it does create a sense of a "life well lived."