Raised in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Meinke graduated in 1950 from Mountain Lakes High School and was inducted into its hall of fame in 2016.[2] After receiving his BA from Hamilton College, Meinke served for two years in the Army. He later earned an MA at the University of Michigan and a PhD at the University of Minnesota.[3]
Meinke and his wife, the artist Jeanne Clark, have lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 1966. For 27 years, Meinke was a professor at Eckerd College, where he was a director of the EC Writing Workshop. In February 2004, he was inducted as a foundation member into the Eckerd College Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Zeta of Florida. He also served on the faculty of the Eckerd College's Third Annual Writers in Paradise Conference in January 2007. From 2003 through 2005, he held the Darden Chair in Creative Writing at Old Dominion University.[4]
