Savoie Lottinville was born in Hagerman, Idaho, and now lives in Norman, Oklahoma. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1929 and went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. When he returned to the United States in 1932 he became a reporter on the Oklahoma City Times. The following year he became an editor for the University of Oklahoma Press and later its director. His lifelong study of history has resulted in many articles and papers written for leading journals and reviews. He is married and has two daughters.