Perry was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and lived a pauperized lifestyle, joining the USMC to get an education, but his prowess led him to Vietnam instead, so his studies had to wait....view morePerry was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and lived a pauperized lifestyle, joining the USMC to get an education, but his prowess led him to Vietnam instead, so his studies had to wait. He went to various universities to get his education in environmental sciences, ocean sciences, oceanography, physics, and chemistry and more, still continuing to study today. His wife refers to him as a permanent student. He founded a society to develop young scientists, which still exists today, using his experience working with scientists from various countries on expeditions. His scientific knowledge and twenty-year experience in education, along with his education in writing, has given him what is necessary to be a good writer. Most of what he writes is actually true.view less