Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1, 1926 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her father, George Herbert McCaffrey, a city administrator and a colonel in the U.S. Army, served as political advisor to General Mark Clark. Her mother, Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, was a copywriter and real estate agent as well as the author of several unpublished mysteries. Anne McCaffrey began writing during her childhood in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. She created and produced a fantasy play at camp and wrote two short novels during her school years.

McCaffrey graduated from Radcliffe College in 1947 with a degree in Slavic languages and literature. After graduation she worked in New York City with World Trade Intelligence, Liberty Music Shops, and Helena Rubenstein. In 1950 she married H. Wright Johnson and moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where her interest in music and drama led to her involvement with the Wilmington Opera Society...