Joy Hatch
"When I was pregnant, there was a lot of pressure to buy stuff," says Joy Hatch, a teacher at Shasta Middle School . "I didn't want to do it." The daughter of frugal Iowans who honeymooned in Oregon and decided to stay, Hatch grew up in Newport. "My dad was a game warden and my mom stayed home," she says. "She hung up the wash, canned, and made our bread, yogurt, and hand soap." Hatch had stayed in touch with college friend Rebecca Kelley, who was pregnant at the same time in Portland. Unable to find a book on eco-friendly child raising, they decided to write one. "We had no idea how to publish a book," says Hatch, who started writing in the spring of '07, six months after her son Roscoe was born. "It was a lot of trial and error." While waiting for their agent to find a publisher, Hatch and Kelley launched a website, The Thrifty Green Baby Guide (greenbabyguide.com). "We started a blog in December," says Hatch. "Every month the number of viewers has doubled. Last month we had 10,000 visitors." Three weeks ago, Hatch and Kelley got the news that their book will be published in 2010.
happening people
photograph and story by Paul Neevel
Eugene Weekly / 21 August 2008
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