Patricia McKissack was born in 1944, in Smyrna, Tennessee. After moving around a bit, when she was 12 she and her family finally settled in Nashville. It was there that Patricia first met the then 17-year-old Fredrick. The two friends both attended Tennessee State University, but it wasn't until after graduating in 1964 that they became more than friends. Fredrick proposed on their second date, and they were married four months later.