Tuhia he tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I whānau a Gration, e mōhiotia ana i tōna ingoa tuarua ko Scott, ki St. Charles, Illinois, te tama a Dorothy E. (née Harpel) me John Alexander Gration. Ko ōna tīpuna o te taha o tōna pāpā, he Pākehā. I noho ia i tona tamarikitanga i te mea e kiia nei ko te Democratic Republic of Congo (i taua wa ko te Belgian Congo, i muri mai ko Zaïre) me Kenya, i te wa e mahi ana ona maatua hei kaiako misionare. Ko te rerenga tuatahi i korerotia e ia i te reo Kiswahili, ā, he kaikōrero Kiswahili ia i tōna oranga katoa. I te Wā o Congo Crisis
i te tīmatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1960, e toru ngā wā i nekehia atu ai tōna whānau, ā, ka noho rātau hei rerenga, ka neke ki Kenya i muri i te rerenga tuatoru i te tau kotahi mano e 1964.