Benjamin Hoff
Benjamin Hoff (born on November 11, 1946) is an American author. He is best known as the author of The Tao of Pooh (1982) and The Te of Piglet (1992). In 2006, he denounced the publishing industry and announced his resignation from book-writing.
Benjamin Hoff
- Born
- 1946 · Oregon.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- photographer · composer · photojournalist · journalist · writer
- Education
- Evergreen State College
- Honours
- American Book Awards
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Benjamin Hoff (born on November 11, 1946) is an American author. He is best known as the author of The Tao of Pooh (1982) and The Te of Piglet (1992). In 2006, he denounced the publishing industry and announced his resignation from book-writing.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Benjamin Hoff. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q608512 · wikipedia · Benjamin Hoff
In this article
Personal life
Personal life
His book, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, won the American Book Award in 1988.
Hoff grew up in the Portland, Oregon neighborhood of Sylvan, where he acquired a fondness of the natural world that has been highly influential in his writing. He attended elementary and middle school in Sylvan and attended both Benson Polytechnic High School and Lincoln High School in Portland. Hoff attended college at the University of Oregon in Eugene and the Portland Museum Art School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art). Hoff obtained a B.A. in Asian Art from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, in 1973. Hoff has also studied architecture, music, fine arts, graphic design and Asian Culture. His studies in Asian Culture included reaching the certificate level in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. He had two years of apprenticeship in Japanese fine-tuning methods and four years of instruction in the martial art form of tai chi, including a year of qigong. Prior to his career in writing, he worked as a tree pruner, antiques restorer, hospital orderly, investigative reporter, photojournalist, recording musician, singer, and songwriter. In the 1960s, Hoff helped form the rock–pop band the United Travel Service. In his spare time, he practices Taoist qigong and tai chi. He enjoys playing classical guitar, composing music and taking nature photographs. In 2006, Hoff published an essay on his website titled "Farewell to Authorship", in which he denounced the publishing industry and announced his resignation from book-writing. This is the only website he has officially endorsed or been involved with. As of August 2010 the website displayed a series of letters sent between Hoff and staffers from the Oregon Historical Society, where Hoff criticizes the OHS-produced Oregon Experience: Opal Whiteley, saying that many of the facts were ignored or untrue. Hoff wrote the 1986 book The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, a biography about Opal Whiteley which also includes her diary.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count.
Books
Benjamin Hoff has written five books: "The Way to Life" (1981), "The House on the Point" (2002), "The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow" (1986), The Tao of Pooh (1982), and The Te of Piglet (1992). The Tao of Pooh and its successor, "The Te of Piglet" are Hoff's best known books. They discuss Taoist beliefs and writings through Winnie-the-Pooh. "The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow" is a biography of Opal Whiteley, another American author from Oregon.
Reception and standing
The scholarly and documentary record stands as follows.
Where the work is held
Collections and holdings
Institutional holdings are recorded as follows.
Awards and commendations
Hoff was awarded the American Book Award in 1988 for The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow: The Rediscovered Diary of Opal Whiteley. The Tao of Pooh, The Te of Piglet, and The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow were all book-of-the-month choices. The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet were also chosen by the Quality Paperback Book Club. The Tao of Pooh was an international bestseller and spent 49 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller list. The Te of Piglet also became an international bestseller and spent 40 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller list.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,393 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Beniamino FacchinelliPhotographer
- Benjamen ChinnPhotographer
- Benjamin BuschPhotographer
- Benjamin HaldanePhotographer
- Benjamin LowyPhotographer
- Benjamin SimpsonPhotographer
- Benjamin Von WongPhotographer
- Benjamin W. KilburnPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Benjamin Hoff?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.