Eric Poole was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a farming and industrial hamlet best known, in the 1960’s, for its Quaker Oats factory (the entire town smelled like oatmeal). There, he excelled in television viewing and falling over the railing of the family’s split level foyer.
Along with his parents and sister Valerie, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri at the dawn of the 70’s – where, to escape the reality of his world, he developed an affinity for pretending to be Endora from Bewitched (the subject of his first memoir, Where’s My Wand?).
Eric remained in St. Louis through most of the 80’s – experimenting, in his later teens and early 20’s with various other personas – all fairly disastrously. This became the subject of his new memoir, Excuse Me While I Slip Into Someone More Comfortable.
He later moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career as a sitcom writer – “pursue” being the operative word, since this career was never actually caught. (It’s a long and ridiculous story, one he’s saving for his next book.) He has spent his career in advertising and marketing, winning more than thirty pieces of overpriced metal for his efforts. For 15 years he was a VP of Marketing at one of the broadcast TV networks, and he now serves as Managing Partner of Second Sense Creative and Director of Marketing for Brand g Vacations.
His first book, Where’s My Wand? One Boy’s Magical Triumph Over Alienation and Shag Carpeting, was published by Amy Einhorn Books (Penguin Random House), and was developed as a sitcom by Adam Sandler’s company, Happy Madison, and Sony Pictures Television for ABC.His second book, Excuse Me While I Slip Into Someone More Comfortable has just been published by Rosetta Books (Simon & Schuster).
He lives with his partner of 16 years in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
A courageous and boldly honest memoir. Eric Poole says things people feel but would never admit to, which makes him vulnerable and endearing.
