Cathy Nilon

Chemo Cat’s author and illustrator Cathy Nilon is a native New Yorker now living with her life partner Bill and their son Luca in the Seattle, WA area.

Her extraordinary artistic talent is evident in each water/pencil, pen/ink illustration that moves the story along from her son’s point of view.

The child’s emotions at her devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in the Fall of 2004 and through the long healing process are further expressed in soothing poetic verse that offers a serene sense of hope to children.

Cathy plans to continue writing and illustrating books with uplifting themes for children of all ages. She is a lifelong cat lover and currently Gracie and Piggy complete the very grateful family.

Educated in New York City at the High School of Art and Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as Ars Sutoria in Milan, Italy, the internationally acclaimed school for shoe design, she has had an extensive career in shoe design and production most recently for Liz Claiborne Shoes, living for long periods of time in Italy, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. She has come full circle back to her early dreams of writing and illustrating children’s books.