For over 40 years, students traveled from around the world to Santa, Idaho, to learn medieval bookbinding from Jim Croft. The respected teacher passed away in 2025, and a new documentary titled “Book Father: The Old Ways of Jim Croft” by Rockville Productions tells his story. 

“He was an amazing teacher, very encouraging, and he really helped people explore,” said Jim Croft’s daughter, Nara Woodland. “He was so open about his knowledge and shared so much.”

Croft’s lifelong passion for bookbinding began when he traveled to Europe as a dishwasher on a tanker ship, Woodland said. He was inspired by the craftsmanship of artifacts he saw there,

“He saw things that were made so well they were lasting hundreds of years,” Woodland said. “That really changed the trajectory of his life.”

Through the 1970s and '80s, Croft mastered medieval bookbinding and taught workshops across the country. The University of Iowa Center for the Book was one of his frequent stops, where he befriended the professor and director emeritus Timothy D. Barrett, who visited him at his rural homestead in Santa.

“He was part of an enclave up there of people who lived off the grid,” Barrett said. “If you were a visitor there, it impressed you how his lifestyle was part of his work of binding books. He lived and breathed his work there, off the grid in Idaho.”

Croft and his partner, Melody Eckroth, hosted students who came to learn traditional bookbinding from Croft. Although their homestead had no regular plumbing or electricity, they made visitors feel at home. Woodland said her parents enjoyed living close to the land and grew most of their own food. Her father gathered wood and other raw materials for his projects and shared them with his students.

“When my dad was teaching, he was the first person there in the morning, and the last person to leave. He was fully committed to the experience,” Woodland said. “He was this rockstar, people’s eyes lit up when you mentioned him, they just loved him so much.”

When Croft became ill in 2025, Barrett reached out to filmmaker Cale Stelken of Rockville Productions to film a documentary to honor Croft’s legacy. Stelken interviewed Croft’s family and students who attended his workshops and were inspired by him. 

“It’s a great film about how you need to pursue your own passions, and really throw yourself into them and share them with other people,” Barrett said. “That’s a really valuable way to spend your life.”

Two of Jim Croft’s students, Brian Beidler and Mary Sullivan, will lead a series of bookbinding workshops titled “New Old Ways” to continue Croft’s teachings. They are close to meeting their $20,000 fundraising goal for materials and tools, and hope to begin classes in 2028. 

To learn more and to view “Book Father: The Old Ways of Jim Croft,” visit www.jimcroftbookbinding.com. To contribute to the “New Old Ways” fundraiser, visit gofundme.com/f/new-old-ways-continuing-the-legacy-of-jim-croft. 

    Jim Croft prepares his materials.
  

    Jim Croft and partner Melody Eckroth.