A teenager about to start high school in Enfield, Massachusetts, choosing to take charge of his life will affect more lives than just his own.

Jeffrey Andrew Knox (Jeff) was born on August 16, 1969 to Joseph Knox, originally from Deerfield, Massachusetts, and his wife Marisa Keiolis Knox from Pelham, Massachusetts. Jeff was born at the Greenwich Valley Medical Center in Greenwich, Massachusetts, and grew up in neighboring Enfield. He has one sibling, a sister, Kara, born a year later. While he has no living relatives on his father's side, the Keiolis side of the family is extensive.

---

Early Life

Jeff lived a relatively normal life, attending Enfield Plains Elementary School, then Enfield Middle School. In 1983, Jeff left the Valley Regional School District system and started high school at the private Thompkins School, where his mother taught math, on the Enfield-Greenwich town line.



While his academic performance was impressive, the treatment Jeff received from his peers was often much less so. He often suffered from teasing, name-calling (geek), and being ostracized by non-sports-playing kids. His teammates treated him well enough when necessary for their sport, but all but ignored him away from the playing fields. This was these were the driving causes of Jeff's desire to switch schools. Thompkins' reputation for strong academics and the quality of their faculty and staff is without measure in the Swift River valley.

---

Thompkins School

Jeff arrived at Thompkins as a freshman, officially, on September 6, 1983, though he started meeting fellow students at soccer practice a week earlier. It was at the start of practices that he met Tom Jarret, a sophomore at the time, and the brother of a freshman classmate of Jeff's, Jack. Jeff and Jack met during the first day's morning homeroom period and became life-long friends. Jeff said nothing about Jack's limp when he noticed it, and defended Jack when fellow freshman Bryan Cosgrove began harassing Jack at lunch on the first day of school.

---

Date of Birth

August 16, 1969

Gender

Male

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Medium

Height

6'2"

Weight

215 lbs