The only son and eldest of the three children of Don and Lorraine Book, Rick Book was born on June 29, 1949, in Loreburn, Saskatchewan. He was raised on the family wheat farm which was some nine miles southwest of Loreburn, then a community of about five hundred people.

Following high school, Book attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon where, in 1970, he completed a bachelor of arts with majors in English and history.

During his second year at the university, Book involved himself in student radio, an experience which led to his becoming a part-time disc jockey at a commercial radio station, CKOM. Following another year of study at the University of Regina, he returned briefly to employment with CKOM before being offered a job by Canada's national radio and television network, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which was opening a news bureau in Saskatoon...