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Childhood-
I grew up around Ann Arbor, Michigan,
although I was born in San Diego, California, in 1940. My parents
were divorced when I was small, and I lived with my mother and
grandparents. We lived outside of town and there were fields
and and woods to roam around in. I spent a lot of time outdoors
and still do. In third grade I went to a rural one-room school
with no indoor plumbing. Did I walk there, through blizzards
in the winter? Absolutely! I love blizzards.
I love summer too, and every summer I spent weeks with my other
grandparents, at their little cottage on Zuckey Lake learning
to fish and messing around. They were wonderful people and I
miss them still.
When my mother remarried, a remarkable
thing happened. We moved to Shemya, Alaska, a small island in
the western Aleutians where my step-Dad worked on airplanes.
Here is a picture of me at 12 on my  snowshoes in front of our house. We lived
there for almost two years, and I developed a life-long taste
for adventure and the North. Childhood is not always easy and
mine was no exception, but I worked hard in school and was surrounded
by a caring family. Most of my books are based on interests I
developed as a kid.
College Life-
I was always interested in science
and nature, and after high school I went to the University of
Michigan to study chemistry. All my friends, however, were artists,
writers, and folk singers. (I still play guitar and sing all
the time.) In college I got the idea that it would be really
wonderful to write and illustrate children's books. However,
I put the idea aside for later, as I was married young and had
two kids by the time I finished my Ph.D. at Cornell University.
The Chemist turns Writer-
I had a lot of interesting jobs as a chemist:
researcher, college professor, and running a drug testing lab
for race horses, but somehow chemistry wasn't right for me. And
so, after a divorce, I began my work in children's books and
never looked back. It wasn't easy to get published, but after
years of rejections, things came around. Now I use my scientific
training all the time, as a writer.
My House-
Soon after I began writing, I decided
to build a house that would inspire my new work. I built in the
woods and used rocks and trees from the land in the house. My
friends call it the "hobbit house". Here is is picture
of it in  spring.
The dark green windows are my studio, the little dormers are
sleeping lofts. It is a passive solar house. There are lots of
south windows, and the painted concrete floor stores heat on
sunny days. I also have a wood stove. It is a very cozy place
when the winter snows arrive.
Outdoor life suits me. Here, on the edge
of the Adirondack Mountains, I get out in the woods everyday.
In the winter I cross-country ski. I often go past the big rock
which is right in my woods.
Work, Family, and Travel-
I spend a lot of time in my studio, always
trying to make my writing and illustrations better. It is a wonderful
place to work, full of light and books and art supplies.
I also travel quite a bit. I like to visit
my kids and parents and sister, and they are scattered all over.
I also travel a lot for school programs.
Traveling for my books takes me to remote places, like the tundra
or the desert. I always carry a sketchbook and a small watercolor
set wherever I go. I did this sketch of mountains while traveling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska.
I feel most fortunate to be able to
lead this kind of creative life. Once in school, a student asked
me if I was rich. I thought a moment and then answered, "Yes,
but not in terms of money."
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About Me-Bruce Hiscock