K Duncan Deaton grew up in Columbus, Georgia, the son of a Baptist Deacon and a Sunday school teacher. Five days after his 1969 graduation from high school, he was a Marine recruit at Parris Island, SC. Discharged with the rank of Corporal, Deaton began college and he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia. After graduation from the Medical College of Georgia on an Air Force scholarship, he performed a residency in internal medicine and then began active duty in the USAF. At the end of his four-year obligation, Deaton performed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Boston University Hospital and then returned to Georgia where he practiced until retirement in 2013. Today K Duncan Deaton and his wife, a neurologist, both travel and read extensively.