Richard Stern was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and was raised in the
Northern suburbs of Chicago. At the age of 6, his parents divorced and
Richard spent the rest of his childhood living with his mother, Myrna
and younger brother, Jonathan.
In high school, Richard was a nationally ranked debator and editor of
his school newspaper. At the same time, he also published a collection
of poetry and short stories entitled, "Searching Suburban Skies". The
book won a series of national literary awards and earned Richard a
Lieberman fellowship to attend Bard College.
During his freshmen year at Bard, he was both co-captain of the
school's debating team and editor-in-chief of the newspaper. His first
screenplay, "Blood and Salsa" was written and sold while he was still
in undergraduate school.