David Long is the only child of John H. Long, a corporate lawyer specializing in labor relations, and Jean (Dimond) Long, a cellist and homemaker. Long was born on 6 March 1948 and raised in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, a small town about an hour west of Boston. He attended Pomfret School, a private high school in Pomfret, Connecticut, and went on to Albion College in Michigan, where he majored in English and studied with Paul Loukides. "Paul was a great influence," Long said in an unpublished interview. "It was my first experience with Iowa-style writing workshops." He met his future wife, Susan Schweinsberg, in a history class, and they married in December of 1969.

In 1970 Long attended the Hartford Seminary Foundation, graduating with a master of arts degree in religious studies in 1972. He also took classes in poetry with Terry Stokes at the University of Hartford. Long applied to graduate schools in...