Here is a little bit about the original Guys Who Read:
Jake hails from Portland, Maine, where he currently resides with his wife and fairly new son. Matt is a native of Nantucket Island, and lives there with his wife and newer son. Ryan is from Northern New Jersey, has an even newer wife, and is currently searching for a place to call home.
They met at Drew University, a liberal arts haven in Madison, NJ, shortly before the turn of the century. Matt and Ryan majored in political science and minored in American studies, while Jake considered an economics major and took an interest in French after developing an affinity for the country's fine wines. There was considerable book learning, a budding fondness for academia, and their minds were expanded substantially, but, to be honest, your typical collegiate good times that pushed all limits were their true focus.
Matt spent summers back on Nantucket running his sportfishing charter boat, the Topspin. Jake joined him for one summer and his love of fishing was born, and a career on the water seemed like a good idea. Nobody really knows what Ryan did during the summers, but they suspect he spent most of his time locked in his parent’s basement for ill-behavior.
Jake decided to take a break from institutional academia and then transferred to Maine Maritime Academy to complete his degree. After graduation, he took a job in New York City where he drives a tugboat working two weeks on and two weeks off. The work on a tugboat can be described as hours of complete boredom interrupted by brief moments of sheer terror. This pace allows him to enjoy a good book from time to time. When Jake is at home he is a full time stay at home dad who enjoys fly-fishing as the time permits. Jake prefers the label of Townie.
After Drew, Matt went on the University of Miami School of Law, where he learned how to sailfish and continued the party started in college. After graduating from law school, Matt lasted slightly less than a year in a law office before returning to fishing, and resumed running the Topspin. In the winter, he ran sportfishing boats in Florida and Costa Rica, and when no other opportunities presented themselves, went scalloping. He quit drinking when it started to interfere with his fishing time, and regards law school as a silly mistake he made while drunk. Currently, he guides anglers in the spring, summer and fall, and enjoys being a stay-at-home Dad in the winter. He fly-fishes even when time does not permit, and regards Jake as a dilettante for doing it only when it is reasonable.
After Drew, Ryan started a career at a junk-bond peddling, cocaine-fueled investment chop shop that will not be named here. The presence of hard drugs, a fear of cold calling and the shame of bilking citizens out of their hard-earned dollars forced him from the industry on the second day, just before lunch. He matriculated at the University of Chicago, where he earned some kind of graduate degree in something. Currently, he works as a police officer, and has apparently mastered shooting a pistol. He is considering a career as a high school History teacher in order to foster the development of young minds, rather than locking them up. Both Jake and Matt will continue to regard Ryan as a fool until he becomes a competent fly fisherman.
While the non-stop partying of college is something they were all happy to leave behind, the intellectual stimulation is something they came to miss. This, as well as their interest in keeping the veins of friendship and communication open despite separation both geographic and of the type caused by careers and life in general, led them to create Guys Who Read. If you have any questions or comments for them, do not hesitate to drop them a line at guyswhoread@gmail.com
