NORTHAMPTON — Hungry Ghost Bread — where every loaf once came with a poem — is changing hands after 22 years.

Owners and founders Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei announced the move Tuesday after returning from a break. Their last day will be Dec. 20. The bakery at 62 State St. will close for a few months for renovation, reopening in March.

The new owners are Sam Coates-Finke and Ana Maria Valle Bendezú, according to Hungry Ghost’s posts on social media.

“It’s been a great run,” Stevens said in an interview. “We just put everything we can into it. It’s a business. But mostly it’s a way of life.”

Stevens does the baking. Maffei runs the business.

“It’s a lot harder on her than it is on me,” he said. “I get the reward of pulling bread out of the oven, and people ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing

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