Herman Everett Spivey was born to James Greer and Julia LeHarp (Baxley) Spivey in Hemingway, South Carolina on August 10, 1907. He attended the University of North Carolina, where he earned his A.B. (1928), A.M. (1929), Ph.D. (1936), and LL.D. (1969). He also completed a Litt.D. at Maryville College in 1968. Spivey married Havens Edna Taylor on December 15, 1925 and the couple had four children: Herman Everett Jr., H. Olin, Mark Allan, and Margaret Katherine. Spivey began his professional career at the University of North Carolina, where started working as an instructor in 1928. He left this post to take a position at the University of Florida in 1930, where he worked until returning to the University of North Carolina in 1933. Spivey went back to the University of Florida in 1936 and taught English until 1942, when he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war ended, he returned to the University of Florida and taught until 1948 when he accepted a position as the Head of the Department of English at the University of Kentucky. He became the Dean of the University's Graduate School in 1950 and served in this capacity until he became a Vice President at the University of Tennessee in 1960. Spivey left the university in 1968 to return to the University of Florida as a Professor of English. He died in Florida on February 12, 1981.