Richard Patterson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale with a B.A. in philosophy, and studied literature at Cambridge before embarking on a career in film. Later in life he earned a masters in humanities from California State University Dominguez Hills, writing his thesis on philosophical hermeneutics. His book on Sowell grew out of his concerns about the growing divide between liberals and conservatives in the U.S. and his desire to understand the real differences underlying contemporary political debate.