A native New Yorker, Bloom was born in Brooklyn, the youngest of three children, and grew up in Queens. His mother was a housewife, active in local charities and family life. His father ran a picture frame and print company in (Manhattan)\n', 'Bloom attended JHS 216 (George J. Ryan Junior High School), and then moved on to Woodmere Academy and Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. It was there that he purchased his first guitar, a $52 Harmony full-bodied electric.\n', '

After graduating from Cheshire Academy in 1962, he went to Spain for the summer, studying at Menendez Pelayo University in Santander, before starting college in the fall.[citation needed]\n', '

Bloom, known as "Manny" Bloom in college, attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York, studying modern languages. In 1964 he left early to work for a family car-importing company, but he returned a year later, partially out of concerns that if he was not in school, he would be picked up in the Vietnam draft.[citation needed] \n', '

Return to Eric Bloom Autograph Profile