“ Talking with you is sort of the conversational equivalent of an out of body experience. “
Quotes by Bill Waterson
Introducing Bill Waterson
Bill Watterson, born William Boyd Watterson II on July 5, 1958, in Washington, D.C., is an acclaimed American cartoonist best known for creating the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. His father, James G. Watterson, worked as a patent examiner and later became a patent attorney, while his mother, Kathryn, served as a city council member after the family relocated to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, when Bill was six. This suburban Midwestern setting heavily influenced the backdrop of Calvin and Hobbes, reflecting Watterson’s own childhood environment. From an early age, Watterson displayed a passion for drawing, beginning to sketch cartoons at eight years old, often spending solitary hours honing his craft—a habit that persisted through his high school years and shaped his future career.
Watterson’s journey to becoming a professional cartoonist was fueled by his childhood exposure to iconic comic strips like Peanuts by Charles Schulz and Pogo by Walt Kelly, which inspired him to pursue cartooning seriously. During his high school years, he wrote to Schulz, receiving an encouraging response that bolstered his confidence. His parents supported his artistic ambitions, recalling him as an imaginative yet reserved child—traits that contrast with the boisterous Calvin of his comics. After high school, Watterson attended Kenyon College from 1976 to 1980, earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Though he intended to pivot toward editorial cartooning, his college years allowed him to refine his artistic skills, including contributing cartoons to the college newspaper and famously painting Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam on his dorm room ceiling.
