Our classmate and author, Robert Jay Hezzlewood, passed away on Dec. 30th, 2021, at the ge of 75. (Cape Coral, Florida) Friends left their condolences on Echovita's memorial page:

Carol Lee Rocha wrote a sympathy message

“Bonita Beach is not the same without seeing and talking with Bob . He was always friendly and ready to say hi to those that walked by him. Bob a k a Jake Devlin, would work at writing most of his books from the beach. Before settling in Bonita he worked as a court recorder for the Cambridge District Court in Massachusetts. As well as other government jobs .”

“A sad loss for Bonita Beach! Robert aka Beach Bob always had a smile on his face and a joke to tell when you saw him. He knew everyone and if you were talking to him practically every person who walked by stopped to greet him. He was a unique individual. He would use a magnifying glass 🔍 (and the sun) to light his cigarette. It won’t be the same not seeing his “chair.” He will be missed by all! Rest In Peace. J & A”

Here is Bob Hezzlewood's Classmates Revisited Entry from March,  2016:

Robert Hezzlewood, Amazon ebook author, Jake Devlin                     

After graduation, I went to the U, majored in theater, with a focus on acting and directing, graduated in 1970, due to some time off for Army Reserve training in the Boston area, where I moved after graduation.

In Boston, I started a small street theater troupe, supporting it by teaching fencing and stage combat at the new Boston Center for the Arts.  (One of our actresses went on to become a clown with Ringling Brothers [she was a nursing student when she joined us] and I had a brush with nascent fame:  Jay Leno, then a college student, auditioned for us, but he was more a solo act than an ensemble performer.  Ah, well.)

I got into the Reserves as a German linguist (thank you, Herr Eggar), which led to a job for the federal government (I fictionalized that experience in the third book in my series, Devlin Sub Rosa), a job which lasted through the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations.

(In 1974, between assignments, I wrote, produced and directed a stage comedy, which after forty years of procrastination, I finally converted into book form as The Dracula Deception.  I published it in early 2015 and it went to #18 on Amazon.)

Burned out and fed up with all the BS and ego in the government, I left that position and wound up starting a comfier and much less stressful court reporting and legal transcription business, which I sold in 1999, and began a new life as a retired beach bum here in Bonita Springs, Florida, where I'd moved in late 1992.  (Happily, I only have VAGUE memories of -- um, er, uh -- that white stuff; I've even more happily forgotten the word for it.)

Then I dabbled in some internet businesses, one of which was a collection of web sites where I posted menus and did promotion for local restaurants.  I closed that in 2007 and continued practicing (and finally nearly perfecting) beach bummery.

The elections of 2008 and 2010 got me started writing what has turned out to be a series of four novels, using the pen name "Jake Devlin."  Three of them are out now, all in the Top 10 on Amazon at one time or another, and one hitting #1.  I'm working on the fourth and final book in the series (and having way too much fun doing it).

I excerpted a speech from the first book in the series and published it separately.  It's called 257 Ways to Fix the USA and it also hit the #1 spot on Amazon.  I give it away free to subscribers to my monthly insiders newsletter.  Here's the link to that:  JakeDevlin.com/257

Here are the covers of the books:

For anyone who wants to reach me, here are some links:

Web Site:  JakeDevlin.com
Twitter:  @RealJakeDevlin
Email:  Jake.Devlin @ JakeDevlin.com (remove the spaces)
Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Jake-Devlin/e/B00J788LVG