The birthplace of L.M. Loyd is Oakland, California. He was placed in foster care when his mother abandoned him when he was one year old. After that, he was brought to Madisonville, Louisiana, where he met his sole mother. He lived below the poverty line and ran barefoot through the swamps with his dog Red, despite the hazards they faced. He was enrolled in a nearby parochial school and acquired his first pair of shoes when he was seven years old. He soon left his dog behind when his father, who he had never met and who served in the US Navy, arrived to take him, his mother, and his baby sister far from the place he had grown to love.