A fourteen-year-old boy who drowned kayaking in a Utah river last week was an outdoor enthusiast who had written a book about his unorthodox homeschooling and how he had become a child entrepreneur.
Kevin Cooper, 14, died after falling out of a kayak in the Newcastle Reservoir near Beryl, Utah, last Saturday.
He was on the water with his autistic older brother, 17. It's unclear exactly how he fell out of the kayak but his family said they boys had been racing. Cooper's family told local media that he couldn't swim.
A spokesperson for the family has refuted claims the boys had been trying to knock each other out of their kayaks. She alleged witnesses who reported horseplay to authorities were likely 'mistaken in what they saw or heard happening in the water.'
In his 14 short years, Cooper wrote a book under the pseudonym Cole Summers, and amassed thousands of fans on social media with his love of the outdoors and extraordinarily enterprising young mind.
Last month, in a Twitter video promoting his autobiography, the teen revealed how he started his first business at age seven and by 10 owned and operated a 350-acre ranch. The teen was reportedly the sole keeper of the land where he lived with his disabled parents and brother.
Kevin Cooper, 14, died after falling out of a kayak in the Newcastle Reservoir near Beryl, Utah, last Saturday. For the last 12 years, he had been working on his family's farm
Cooper also went by the name of Cole Summers, a name he used to write under. He wrote about 'unschooling' - choosing what he learned and spending most of his time outside rather than studying a traditional curriculum
Cooper is pictured at the age of eight. His family say he owned property by then and was running their family business
Cooper's story was so astonishing and arguably unbelievable that two months ago he posted a video to Twitter video insisting he was real and was everything he claimed to be online.
'Not everybody thinks I am me, so here I am! I really am a 14-year-old homeschooler,' he said in the video. 'I've been studying business since I was six. I started my first business when I was seven.
'I really do spend all my time trying to work toward changing the business model of desert farming to quickly stop aquifer depletion while keeping thousands of acres from being turned into dust bowl farmlands.'
'I really am me. I'm out here,' he concluded. 'I am who I say I am.'
Among those who came across the teen was journalist Bari Weiss, who contacted him to write a piece for her newsletter Common Sense, before he died.
Cooper's piece was published on her Substack on Tuesday.
In the article, the teen described how he started homeschooling because both of his parents were disabled and 'them being homebound enabled us to try it.'
His father is reportedly wheelchair bound after suffering an injury while serving in the armed force and his mother is blind.
Cooper alleged his parents allowed him to pick the path he took with his education, so long as he learned how to read and write.
He said this freedom allowed him to participate in a movement called unschooling which, according to Cooper, always students to choose 'what to learn, when to learn it, and at what pace.'
'I'm part of a side movement within the homeschool movement called unschooling,' he penned. 'I have been since I was six.'
Cooper is pictured operating a tractor on his family's farm in Beryl, Utah
Cooper said in one recent article for Bari Weiss's Common Sense platform that he felt sad for other kids his age who suffer anxiety and have to follow traditional lessons at school
Paperback copies of Don't Tell Me I Can't are finally on Amazon! My homeschool life, how I started my farm when I was 7, grew that to a 350 acre ranch, fixed up my 1st house, & all the challenges & lessons I learned so far.https://t.co/RNmgwy4LPU pic.twitter.com/oSr7RbauGi
— Cole Summers | Don't Tell Me I Can't (@thecolesummers) May 23, 2022'Unschooling is simple: the kid chooses what to learn, when to learn it, and at what pace,' he explained, noting that he actually started unschooling after being inspired by billionaire Warren Buffett.
'I started unschooling specifically because I started watching videos of Warren Buffett on YouTube at my father's suggestion after I asked him, 'Daddy, how do people get rich?'' Cooper said.
Cooper wrote a book about 'unschooling' which is now for sale on Amazon
'I was fascinated by Mr. Buffet's teachings about how he uses the process of elimination in his decision-making. I guess I was an odd six-year-old.
'At that time, my parents were trying to copy public school curricula. I asked if I could make studying people like Buffett my school instead, and they said yes.'
Cooper argued that unschooling 'provides a level of freedom that many adults don't even enjoy.'
'When I took control of my education, my parents only had one rule: I had to do at least some of my learning by reading. Everything else was up to me,' he wrote.
The teen alleged this unschooling gave him the ability focus his studies, as early as in first grade, on business, which he claims 'made me want to start my own business.'
He said he decided to start a farm because it seemed like an 'obvious' choice, given where he lived in Utah.
'Even though the farm was small, my dad had the idea to treat it like I was doing a tech startup. This wasn't about ambition. Treating my tiny farm like a startup allowed me to learn about business and what it takes to run a real company,' he wrote.
'Running the farm as a corporation motivated me, and led to me buying and flipping a house when I was ten and, eventually, expanding my farm to a 350-acre ranch.'
Cooper said in his education, there was no such thing as a typical day. He said his parents, who are both disabled, allowed him to decide what to do every day
Cooper is pictured tending to his farm in Beryl, Utah
Cooper also shared how he felt badly from children his age who are educated in the public school system, citing how many of his peers allegedly suffer from mental health problems and anxiety.
'When I read articles about other teens struggling with anxiety because of all the stresses they believe only politicians can solve, like climate change, it makes me sad for them,' he penned.
The teen shared how many of his friends in public school are 'more capable' at being successful but often met with pushback from the adults in their lives.
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ShareCooper argued that his generation is capable for greatness if given the necessary support systems.
'I've heard adults tell them that they can't do something because they're 'just a kid.' I've watched them want to try something and be told no 'because I said so.' And there's always the 'kids these days' insult,' he explained.
'It isn't that my generation isn't capable. We just need the freedom, encouragement, and empowerment to show what we can do.'
Cooper (pictured) attributes much of his success to unschooling and the support he has received from his parents. He argued that his generation is capable for greatness if given the necessary support systems
Cooper self-published one book that is still for sale on Amazon. It is titled 'Don't Tell Me I Can't: An Ambitious Homeschooler's Journey.'
Now, a close family friend is asking for donations to help the his grieving family pay for his funeral and to keep the farm running in his absence.
'The family now must deal with a loss of VA disability dependent income, picking up some of the bills for Kevin's businesses, legal and accounting fees for shutting down the business, all while also facing typical end of life expenses and helping their surviving son through this tragedy,' said neighbor Stefanie Whitelaw, who is organizing a GoFundMe to support Cooper's family.
'The Cooper family must now rebuild their lives, focused on providing for their surviving son a future that Kevin will no longer be able to give him.
'All donations will help the Cooper family put their young son to rest and provide for the needs of their devastated other son.'
Whitelaw, who is allegedly the family's designated spokesperson, also claimed she wanted to 'set the record straight' about the tragic kayaking accident that ended Cooper's life.
'What [the older brother] told me is they were racing and I guess they were turning around,' Whitelaw told Cedar City News. She said the family has requested to keep their older son's identity private.
'Kevin's kayak tipped or capsized and Kevin went in. [The brother] tried to get Kevin out of the water. I'm guessing that's when people heard anything, it was [him] trying to get his brother out of the water.'
Despite his brother's efforts, Cooper went under the water and never resurfaced. Whitelaw said his body was recovered by a dive team on June 12.
She claimed the Cooper brothers were not risk-takers and guesses 'they were maybe just floating in the shallow end and then went further in.'
The teens were under the supervision of another family that had been hosting a birthday party at the time of the accident.
Neighbors are planning a memorial service for July 2.
Cooper's family revealed on Twitter Tuesday night how they are planning to shut down his ranch because 'it's way more than we can keep up with.'
The family is hoping to move most of Cooper's goat herd to a wildlife prevention program. They will also keep a few of his animals as pets.
Community members have offered to help with some of the teen's other projects, including his effort to salvage barnwood.
They are also looking at ways to keep the boy's legacy alive, including turning a collection of audio recordings saved to his computer into an audiobook.
'We're going to start searching for a new illustrator for his children's stories after his memorial. I have all the files for it,' his father tweeted.
'His Entrepreneurial Unschooling book, I found a lot of his notes for on a shared drive. Already working on that a little bit.'
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