Jacobs was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. His Dutch-descended father was a steamfitter. An enfant terrible extraordinaire, he did not graduate from high school and rumor has it he dropped out or was expelled in 8th grade. In spite of this, he got an education on the fly, read a great deal of contemporary literature, met almost everyone of the period worth knowing and was a fine journalistic writer. His older sister Frances reports that he was the red-headed scourge of the neighborhood as a child.
