beachy's parents are mennonites and his paternal grandparents were old order amish. his brother tim beachy is a member of the band squidboy. beachy is a second cousin of biologist philip beachy and historian robert m. beachy and also a relative of biologist roger n. beachy. he attended the university of iowa from 1983 to 1990, both as an undergrad and in the iowa writers' workshop. as a student he traveled extensively in the us and latin america, sometimes by motorcycle and sometimes hitchhiking, which influenced his first novel.