 Larry Eugene Smedley was born on March 4, 1949 in Front Royal, Virginia.He attended elementary schools in Berryville, Virginia; Augusta, Georgia; Union Park, Florida; Howard Junior High School in Orlando, Florida, and Colonial High School leaving the latter in 1966 a few days after he turned 17.Although he didn't graduate from high school, decades later the school board awarded him an honorary high school diploma posthumously in 2008.