Hugh Lofting was born in Maidenhead Berkshire in 1886, Hugh Lofting kept a miniature zoo in his mother's cupboards as a child. By 1907, he was traveling the world as a civil engineer, but left this life in 1912. Lofting lived in New York City when World War I began.
After he enlisted into the Irish Guards during WWI, he was disgusted by the treatment of the horses on the warfront. In a bid to protect his children from the horrors he experienced, he instead wrote them fantastical letters of fictional stories which became the basis for his most famous work, Dr. Dolittle.
Despite being injured while fighting in 1917, it wasn't until 1919 that Lofting was discharged. Leaving the battlefield behind, he moved with his family to Connecticut. In the time since, he was married three times and had three children. He died in 1947 in Santa Monica, CA after battling a two-year illness.