Richard Schwartz said, "I originally graduated with a drama degree, which basically qualified me to drive a truck." That was in 1986, and that was what he did, among other things, supporting himself with day labor jobs. He thought that wasn't good enough for a lifetime, though, so he attended night school at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. He earned a master's degree in education, thereby opening the way to different occupations.
Schwartz likes to be flippant, hiding the seriousness inside him. He was born the second of five children on a U.S. Army base in Germany. He spent his childhood, he said, "shuttling between New Jersey and Maryland." The family relocated again to an army base in Vicenza, Italy. He said, "I absorbed the culture and history of Europe through school trips and family vacations, in the great centers of civilization in Germany, England and Greece as well as Italy." He began to perform in community theater and to write poetry, short stories and school skits.
Drama became his continuing passion as he returned to high school in the States. At Catholic University in Washington, D.C., he developed his writing output. After he earned his master's degree, he began teaching elementary school children in Washington, where he stayed several years.