Jon Holmes was born in Lubbock and grew up in a farm near the city while being educated in Lubbock’s school system. He graduated from Lubbock High School and later attended Texas Tech University. At Texas Tech, Holmes participated in the campus anti-Vietnam War Movement and in the underground student newspaper named The Catalyst. Because of his work, especially in pointing out racial discrimination in Lubbock within the The Catalyst, Holmes and his fellow student advocates faced police harassment and violence. Facing such oppression, he moved to New York where he began a successful writing career. He has published articles in numerous publications like the New York Times and has published two cultural history books.