Robert Joseph Burch was born on June 26, 1925, in Inman, Georgia.

The seventh of eight children born to John Ambrose and Nell Graham Burch, he grew up on his mother's family farm in Fayetteville, Georgia, near Atlanta.

Burch attended public schools and, following graduation from high school, joined the U.S. Army. During World War II, he served in New Guinea and Brisbane, Australia. After his discharge, he attended college at the University of Georgia, receiving a degree in agriculture with a specialization in horticulture. Unhappy as a horticulturist, he took a civil service job as a clerical worker. His duties involved a visit to Japan, from which point he began a trip around the world aboard a Danish freighter. When Burch returned to the United States, he took up residence in New York City, where he studied writing under Dr. William Lipkind at Hunter...