Jeffery Good was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 19, 1959. He is a graduate of Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska, and St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont.

Before joining the St. Petersburg Times, he was editor of Public Citizen magazine in Washington D.C., associate editor of the Vermont Vanguard Press in Burlington, Vermont, and a freelance writer. He is married, has one daughter, and enjoys skiing, swimming and windsurfing.