Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he was nine years old, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia. He attended the McCallie School, a private preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Turner attended Brown University and was vice-president of the Brown Debating Union. He was also a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Turner initially majored in Classics. After learning of this, Turner's father wrote him a letter saying that his son's choice of major made him "appalled, even horrified," and that he "almost puked."[1] Turner later changed his major to economics. Turner was expelled from Brown in 1960 for having an unauthorized female visitor in his dormitory room.
He certainly talks Old South (like me) which is one of the few things to his credit.