Who is Joley LIpton from Songs of the Humpback Whale and what is their importance?

Thirty-one-year-old Joley, younger brother of Jane, has never found a woman to measure up to his sister. Jane protects him from their father and saves him from drowning in ten-foot surf at Plum Island, Massachusetts when he is seven. Later Jane bails him out of jail and keeps in touch with him during his worldwide wanderings without revealing his whereabouts to their parents.