James Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, the son of a county agricultural agent. He was blinded in one eye in childhood. His father and sister died in a car accident when he was 21. He attended Michigan State University and received a B.A. in 1960 and an M.A in 1964 in Comparative Literature. After working as an assistant professor of English at State University of New York, Stony Brook, he became a full-time writer.
