Hood-sponsored Travel Aficionado Never Stops Learning

Luther Jett '81, writer and retired special educator, has been on multiple Hood alumni-sponsored trips and notes the benefits of travel for his writing.

Luther Jett '81 prefers travel with an educational focus

Graduation Year

1981

Alumni

Alumni

By Michelle Burnett, editor, 08/12/2026

Luther Jett '81 got his Hood education when it was just becoming available to men, and he still fondly remembers faculty mentors. He made it a priority to travel in memory of his father, a WWII veteran who served overseas but had always wanted to visit Europe and never was able to. He says that travel journaling has influenced the expansiveness and quality of his writing career. Up next on his travel docket? Provence--on a Hood-sponsored tour, of course!

Explore Hood-sponsored travel opportunities.

Tell us your "Hood Story." What brought you here as a student?

I was living in southern Frederick County and wanted to finish up my Bachelor’s degree. Hood had recently opened its doors to male students (but we had to live off campus). I majored in History and still remember the faculty members — Purnima Bhatt; Gerry McKnight; Len Latkovski, among others — from whom I learned so much.

When I graduated there was only one opening for a history teacher in the entire state of Maryland, so I went back to school and this time majored in Special Education.

When and why did you start having the travel bug?

My parents instilled the urge to travel in all of us from a very early age. There were several memorable trips — We drove across the country one summer as far as Yellowstone and back to Maryland, and spent several summers in Bar Harbor. My father had been overseas during WWII and always wanted to see Europe, but he never got to do so. After he died, I made it a point to travel as much as I could.

Tell us about your life since Hood, both your teaching and writing careers. How has travel influenced your writing and writing process?

I worked in the field of special education for over thirty years, with a focus on students with intellectual disabilities. We were working to make sure all students had an opportunity to be included in their neighborhood schools. Working with people who faced challenges communicating served to reinforce my belief in the power and value of language, so I think that influenced my writing. But I had been writing since I was a very small child.

Similarly, travel has brought an expanded landscape to my writing, as well as deeper appreciation for the human experience. Whenever I travel, I journal, and this not only helps preserve the memories, but it helps improve my writing skills

What puts the "purpose" in purposeful travel, for you? What about the Hood alumni travel experiences keep you coming back?

I like to visit places that are off the beaten track as well as the more popular sites. I don’t just go for the scenery; I prefer to learn something about the history and culture of the places I visit. I appreciate that the tours sponsored by Hood include that educational component in the form of lectures as well as highly knowledgeable local guides.

Favorite place in the world to travel (and why):

Too many to single out just one. I keep returning to the British Isles (UK & Eire), probably because my family came from there. I also like to visit the American West and New England — those were places we traveled to when I was a kid, but I also like to see the wildlife there. I have been to China twice and it was fascinating, but the current government there is very repressive.