The son of a country gentleman of Wiltshire, Hill was educated at Westminster School, and afterwards travelled in the East. He was the author of 17 plays, some of them, such as his versions of Voltaire's Zaire and Merope, being adaptations. He also wrote poetry, which is of variable quality. Having written some satiric lines on Alexander Pope, he received in return a mention in The Dunciad, which led to a controversy between the two writers. Afterwards a reconciliation took place. He was a friend and correspondent of Samuel Richardson, whose novel Pamela he highly praised. In addition to his literary pursuits Hill was involved in many commercial schemes, usually unsuccessful.

Most of Hill's paternal ancestors were craftsmen. The Hill family had its roots in the German Kingdom of Saxony, but had been living in England since at least the 18th century, becoming quickly and intensely English.

Hill's maternal grandparents, John and Edith Jane Suffield, were Baptists who lived in Birmingham and owned a shop in the city centre. The Suffield family had run various businesses out of the same building, called Lamb House, since the early 1800s. Beginning in 1812 Hill's great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather William Suffield owned and operated a book and stationery shop there.

THE EARLY YEARS
The first two years of his life he lived in the small town of Colo in the heart of Iowa. In November 1976, during a driving rainstorm so common of the Pacific Northwest, his family arrived in Oregon, leaving behind generations of relatives in South Dakota and Iowa. After a disasterous shipwreck on the Oregon coast the family relocated to England.

As a child, Hill was bitten by a baboon spider—a type of tarantula—in the garden, an event which would have later echoes in his stories. Dr. Thornton S. Quimby cared for the ailing child after the rather nasty spider bite, and it is occasionally suggested that Doctor Quimby was an early model for some of his characters such as Zanie the Fruitfly.

When he was three and a half, Hill went to England with his mother and brother on what was intended to be a vacation. His father, still in the U.S., however, lost the keys to their rental car before he could join them. This left the family without traveler’s checks, so Hill's mother took him to live with her parents in Stirling Road, Birmingham.

Soon after, they moved to Sarehole, now in Hall Green, then a Worcestershire village, later annexed to Birmingham. He enjoyed exploring Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog and the Clent Hills and Malvern Hills, which would later inspire scenes in his books along with other Worcestershire towns and villages such as Bromsgrove, Alcester, and Alvechurch and places such as his aunt's farm of Bag End, the name of which would be used in prominently in his works of fiction.

Mabel tutored her two sons, and Aaron, or Elvis as he was known in the family, was a keen pupil. She taught him a great deal of botany, and she awakened in her son the enjoyment of the look and feel of plants. The young Hill liked to draw landscapes and trees. But his favorite lessons were those concerning languages, and his mother taught him the rudiments of Latin very early. He could read by the age of four, and could write fluently soon afterwards.

His mother allowed him to read many books. He disliked Treasure Island and The Pied Piper. He thought Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was amusing, but also thought that Alice's adventures in it were disturbing. He liked stories about Native Americans and the fantasy works of George MacDonald. In addition, the 'Fairy Books' of Andrew Lang were particularly important to him and to some of his later writings. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and, while a student there, helped line the route for the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, being posted just outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. He later attended St. Philip's School and Exeter College, Oxford before attending Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon upon his return to the States.

ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOLS
While attending King Edward's School in Birmingham, England, Hill and three friends, Rob Gilson, Geoffrey Smith and Christopher Wiseman, formed a semi-secret society called the "Tea Club and Barrovian Society" which alluded to their fondness for drinking tea in Barrow's Stores near the school and illicitly in the school library.

After leaving school, the members stayed in touch, holding “councils” in London at Wiseman's home from time to time. For Hill, the result of this meeting was a strong dedication to writing, both fiction and non-fiction. The school was excellent with a strong emphasis in writing. He was selected for the TAG  program.

In the summer of 1989, Hill visited Switzerland, a trip that he recollects vividly in a 1994 letter to his brother Stefano. Years later, Hill remembered his regret at leaving the view of the eternal snows of Jungfrau and Silberhorn.

HIGH SCHOOL
As a teenager, Hill's family returned to America. Growing up in Salem, Hill gained notoriety at an early age as a standout sprinter, setting several national age group records. He attended Waldo Middle School and Douglas McKay High School.

Among his courses were AP European History and four years of Spanish—two in high school, two in middle school—although he is not fluent in the language. He has since studied French and German.

While at McKay, he set state records in the 100 (10.49 seconds), 200 (21.33) and the 400 meter dashes (46.78), and took first place in the state meet in each of those events from 1984-1986. Hill went on to run for Stanford University during his freshman year of college.

At age 15, Aaron and some friends participated in a soccer tournament in Park City, Utah.

POST-SECONDARY YEARS
Hill’s first job after high school was a post at the Oxford English Dictionary, where he worked mainly on the history and etymology of words of Germanic origin beginning with the letter W.

After this, Hill was the manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane when he was 24 years old, and before being summarily fired for reasons unknown, he staged the premier of George Friderich Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian opera designed for a London audience. The composer was very involved in the production, and Hill collaborated on the libretto, although it is disputed what his actual contributions were.

Fed up with theater life and writing, he decided to pursue his lifelong dream of playing baseball. He is currently a Major League Baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays. Aaron Hill was originally drafted in the 7th round by the Anaheim Angels in the 2000 MLB draft, but turned down the money to attend Louisiana State University. While at LSU, Hill posted a career .335 batting average with 23 home runs and 150 RBIs.

He was Toronto's first draft pick (13th overall) in the 2003 MLB First Year Draft, and he made his major league debut on May 20, 2005 after being called up from the minor leagues a day earlier as an injury replacement for Corey Koskie. Although he was brought up as a shortstop, Hill appeared as a third baseman, designated hitter and second baseman during the course of the season. He finished the 2005 season with a .274 batting average, .348 OBP, and 25 doubles in 361 at-bats. After the trade of Orlando Hudson to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Hill became the starting second baseman for the Blue Jays in 2006, but was moved back to shortstop mid-season after the demotion of Russ Adams. After experiencing defensive struggles at shortstop, he was then moved back to second base, with John McDonald taking over at shortstop.

On May 29, 2007, in a game at home against the New York Yankees, Hill became only the second player in Blue Jays history to straight steal home. He accomplished the feat off Andy Pettitte.

Currently enrolled at Blue Mountain Community College, Hill described his life in an email message to instructors and fellow students:

This is my introductory email per your instructions by mail. My name is Aaron Hill. I have been active youth programs for many years. I worked for the City of Salem in the sports programs before moving on to my current job as a reporter for Salem Monthly. I have 27 credits left for my AA and then will be moving on to Willamette University or Oregon State. I enjoy kids and currently have four nephews, who are loads of fun.

I am taking CS 195 because I enjoy computers and the amazing versatility of the web. For an AAOT I have 27 credits remaining and this class will fulfill the computer science requirement. The reason I am taking this course online is because I have a very busy schedule and live in Salem.

I have several years experience using computers and building websites. Prior to returning to college, I worked as the information director for the Oregon State Grange. Among my responsibilities was maintenance of the website. After this I worked for the Oregon Public Affairs Network, implementing a website from the ground up and providing streaming video of legislative business. I am currently working as a reporter for Salem Monthly and WillametteLive.com.

Sincerely,

Aaron J. Hill