Jerry Karp
Jerry Karp (COM’77) of Boonville, Calif., recently retired after almost eight years as owner of Village Books, a used bookstore in Ukiah, Calif. Previously, Jerry ran Rocket Words, his one-person freelance writing practice, in San Francisco. In addition to doing marketing work and website content, Jerry wrote frequently about jazz in publications such as DownBeat and the San Francisco Chronicle. Jerry began his professional career in 1979 when he joined WWNO, New Orleans’ NPR affiliate, as a jazz and blues producer and program host. He earned a master’s at San Francisco State University, and taught English composition and creative writing at San Francisco State and English as a second language for adults at a small ESL school. Thereafter, Jerry served as publications coordinator at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for four years before leaving to found Rocket Words. For the past 10 years, Jerry has hosted a biweekly radio program, the Jazz Odyssey, on KZYX, Mendocino County Public Broadcasting. He and his wife of 13 years, Stephanie, live with their goofball yellow lab, Yossarian.
From the Summer 2019 issue.