Bill Waterson Biography and latest books by Bill Waterson

William Boyd “Bill” Watterson was born on July 5, 1958 in Washington D.C.
Popularly known for his creation “Calvin and Hobbes”, Bill’s span as a cartoonist lasted for about a decade. The last Calvin and Hobbes strip was published on December 31, 1995. During his time as a professional cartoonist, he was known for his reclusive behavior.


His father James G. Watterson who worked as a patent examiner while still in college in George Washington University Law School went on to be a patent lawyer in his later years. His mother Kathryn Watterson became a member of the city council when the family moved to Charging Falls from Washington D.C in 1964.

As a child he spent a lot of time alone drawing and cartooning. He was very quiet and conservative but at the same time very imaginative. He ended up drawing cartoons for his school newspapers and it was during this time that he discovered about Walt Kelly, George Harriman and Charles Schulz. Subsequently he was inspired by these three people who led him to become a professional cartoonist.

Bill attended the Kenyon College from 1976 to 1980 and got a degree in political science. Right after his graduation he got a job as a political cartoonist in Cincinnati Post for six-months as a trial. Before he created Calvin and Hobbes he worked as a grocery advertisement designer for four years.

The characters in his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes was named after Thomas Calvin, a Protestant Reformer he knew, and, Thomas Hobbes, the Social Philosopher. Most of the incidents in his comic strip were based on his life, interests and beliefs. The physical features and personality of Hobbes was inspired from his cat Sprite.

During most of Bill’s career, he tried to bring about a change in the newspaper comic scene. He felt that the space given to comic strips in the newspaper was too less and it was being reduced rapidly. He believed that the comic’s artistic and creative value was being sidelined. He also never gave in to merchandising his creations because he believed that it would cheapen his creations.

In the year 1986, he became the youngest recipient of the Reuben Award. This was followed by National Cartoonists Society’s Humor Comic Strip Award in 1988. The same year he was awarded the Reuben Award for the second time. This was followed by another nomination for the same award in 1992, but sadly he didn’t win it.

On November 9, 1995 he wrote a letter to the newspaper editors saying that his work will stop by the end of the year. He however said that his association with Universal Press Syndicate would continue.

After the end of Calvin and Hobbes, he took up painting and drew landscapes with his father. He kept himself away from the public eye. He valued his privacy so much that he never made any public appearances or gave interviews. The following years (after the end of Calvin and Hobbes) many attempts were made to locate Bill Watterson in Charging Falls but all in vain. In the year 2005, Watterson and his wife moved to Cleveland from Charging Falls. In 2009 Watterson was spotted by a guy named Nevin Martell in Cleveland.
 
Watterson was interviewed by The Plain Dealer in early 2010 on the 15th anniversary of the end of Calvin and Hobbes. During this interview he was quoted saying, “I think one of the reason Calvin and Hobbes still finds an audience today is because I chose not to run the wheels of it. I’ve never regretted stopping when I did.” Recently he was seen emerging out of his reclusive world to review Schulz and Peanuts, a biography of Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts.

Submitted by: Precious Pheirim