Eric Hill

Eric Hill was born September 7, 1927 in London, England where he attended Pooles Park Elementary and Tollington Park Central schools until the outbreak of World War II.

At the age of 12, Eric was evacuated from London to the small village of Bluntisham in Huntingtonshire prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. He returned to London in early 1940 and left school at 15 to start his first job with a shipping office in the City. A year later, when he was 16, Eric joined an art studio as a messenger where he was encouraged to draw cartoons in his spare time.

After a stint with the Royal Air Force, Eric returned to the studio again and his cartooning work was published in national magazines and newspapers. He started a weekly strip for the London magazine Illustrated and did small story sketches for Lilliput and other national magazines.

Eric's next career move was into advertising. He eventually decided to work for himself, freelancing as an art director, graphic designer and illustrator.

In 1976 Eric's son Christopher was born. Eric created a story about a small puppy to read to his 2-year old son at bedtime. In 1980 Where's Spot? was published and the rest is history.

In 1983 Eric moved with his family to the US, and they now live in California with their dogs, cats and horses, providing continuous inspiration for the Spot stories. Eric remains involved in the development of all Spot projects at every stage.

Website: http://www.funwithspot.com/