Bill Shomo is from a small town deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. He attended Saint Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina and joined the Peace Corps after college. He was assigned to work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Upon completing his Peace Corps service, Bill returned to the United States, enrolled in graduate school in Indianapolis, and began to develop his writing skills. He was hired as a writer for the Indiana University School of Medicine Motion Picture unit and was cross-trained as a cinematographer and editor. He took a whimsical diversion from mass media and became a partner in a kite shop.

Bill returned to broadcasting in 1980 and worked for a series of national, regional, and local outlets. While living in Florida he became a sailboat charter captain. He is retired and lives with his wife Jan, in Wilmington, North Carolina, not far from where Topsy had her big adventures.