Richard F. Hill (1941–1999) was a retired educator and award-winning author known for his vivid storytelling and deep ties to St. Petersburg, Florida. He earned national recognition in 1973 with the O. Henry Award for his short story Out in the Garage, which drew on memories of his childhood. In 1976, he was awarded a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally trained as a musician, Hill played saxophone with jazz groups in his youth—a passion that later informed his 1994 novel Riding Solo With the Golden Horde, published by the University of Georgia Press. His literary work included five novels, among them Ghost Story (1971), What Rough Beast? (1992), Shoot the Piper (1994), and Kill the Hundredth Monkey (1995).
A U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran, Hill was deeply committed to education. He held multiple degrees from the University of South Florida, studied at Florida State University, and earned a doctorate in English in 1991. He taught at Northeast High School, the University of South Florida, and St. Petersburg Junior College.
Hill passed away on December 31, 1999, at the age of 58.
