John Tracy Kidder was born November 12, 1945, in New York City.[5]: 263 He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1963.[6] He attended Harvard College, originally majoring in political science, but switching to English after taking a course in creative writing from Robert Fitzgerald.[7] He received an AB degree from Harvard in 1967.[5]: 263
Kidder served in the United States Army as a first lieutenant, Military Intelligence, Vietnam, from 1967 to 1969.[5]: 263 After returning from Vietnam, he wrote for some time and was admitted to the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[3]: 128 He received an MFA degree from the University of Iowa in 1974.[5]: 263
