Here’s a shocker: Kinney dropped out of college. Twice. He started at the University of Maryland, then bailed. Later, he went back and still graduated with a degree in criminal justice. Yes, the man who writes about middle-school chaos studied to catch criminals.
He never even took a single art class in college. Not one. His drawing style is basically “stick figures with attitude,” and he admits his artistic “talent” is just persistence. Imagine mastering a skill by being too stubborn to stop.
And get this: before fame, he worked as a game designer for a company called Poptropica. If you’re under thirty, you might remember that goldmine of browser games. He created that virtual world while secretly plotting Greg Heffley’s next humiliation.
His Biggest Regret? The “Wimpy” Title
Kinney is terrified that his book title ruined his life. He originally wanted to call the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid as a joke, but now he’s stuck with it. He once said, “I’m a 50-year-old man, and people introduce me as ‘the Wimpy Kid guy.’”
He even tried to change the title for the first book. Publishers laughed and said, “Nope, it’s too catchy.” So now he’s forever the “wimpy” dude. Ouch. But hey, the guy drives a very nice car, so he’s probably crying in a pool of money.
Ironically, Kinney himself is not wimpy. He’s six feet tall and played football in high school. Greg Heffley is basically his inner coward, all dressed up in a cartoon body.
Jeff Kinney Jeff Kinney: The Deep End (Diary Of A Wimpy Kid #15)
