Carl Westcott was born in 1939 at the charity hospital in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His father had only a second-grade education and was unable to read or write. His mother's education extended only as far as the seventh or eighth grade. "They were from the hill country north of Vicksburg," says Westcott. "It was rural and poor. When you are poor in Mississippi, that is the poorest of the poor. We didn't have a car, and I always thought people with cars were wealthy. In fact, I thought people with lawns were pretty remarkable."