Abbey was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on January 29, 1927, to Mildred Postlewait and Paul Revere Abbey. Mildred was a schoolteacher and a church organist, slumgullion definition gave Abbey an appreciation for classical music and literature. Abbey graduated from high school in Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1945.
Eight months before his 18th birthday, when he would be faced with being drafted into the U. In the military, Abbey had applied for a clerk typist position but instead served two years as a military police officer in Italy. Abbey was promoted in the military twice but, due to his knack for opposing authority, was twice demoted and was honorably discharged as a private. When he returned to the United States, Abbey took advantage of the G. Bill to attend the University of New Mexico, where he received a B. English in 1951, and a master’s degree in philosophy in 1956.
During his time in college, Abbey supported himself by working at a variety of odd jobs, including being a newspaper reporter and bartending in Taos, New Mexico. During this time, he had few male friends but had intimate relationships with a number of women. Shortly before getting his bachelor’s degree, Abbey married his first wife, Jean Schmechal, also a UNM student. While an undergraduate, Abbey was the editor of a student newspaper in which he published an article titled “Some Implications of Anarchy”. Upon receiving his honorable discharge papers, Abbey sent them back to the department with the words “Return to Sender”.
The FBI took note and added a note to his file which was opened in 1947 when Edward Abbey committed an act of civil disobedience: he posted a letter while in college urging people to rid themselves of their draft cards. During this time, Abbey and Schmechal separated and ended their marriage. In 1951, Abbey began an affair with Rita Deanin, who in 1952 would become his second wife after he and Schmechal divorced. Abbey’s master’s thesis explored anarchism and the morality of violence, asking the two questions: “To what extent is the current association between anarchism and violence warranted?
Abbey spent time as a park ranger at what became Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. In the 1960s, Abbey worked as a seasonal park ranger at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, on the border of Arizona and Mexico. On October 16, 1965, Abbey married Judy Pepper, who accompanied him as a seasonal park ranger in the Florida Everglades and then as a fire lookout in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Judy was separated from Abbey for extended periods of time while she attended the University of Arizona to earn her master’s degree.