Hobart and William Smith Colleges

15 March 2005 Firefighter Tim Hoppey 81 Writes Bilingual Children's Picture Book

Tim Hoppeys first childrens book, Tito, the Firefighter/Tito, el bombero, has just been released from Raven Tree Press, LLC. In this bilingual picture book (English text embedded with Spanish words) Tito admires his neighborhood bomberos (firefighters). He dreams of being a bombero someday, but he never dreamed that his ability to speak both English and Spanish would actually help the firefighters save the day.

For the past 18 years, Hoppey has worked as a New York City firefighter. He is stationed in East Harlem, which is also the setting for Tito, the Firefighter/Tito, el bombero. Firefighting has inspired much of the poetry and many of the childrens stories he has written over the years. He received a B.A. in English and history in 1981 from Hobart College. When hes not fighting fires, he spends his time teaching his boys the finer points of lacrosse, sending money to his daughter in college, and working on his wifes latest home improvement project. Tito, the Firefighter/Tito, el Bombero is his first published childrens book.