In 1952, John Samuel Raymond was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Samuel and Bernice Raymond. His mother died shortly after his birth, and John grew up an only child. His father never remarried, but he brought many women home over the years, usually just for the evening.

Samuel Raymond came from a long line of shrimpers. He wasn't an educated man, but he knew the shrimping business, and he was ambitious. When he took over the company from his father, he started expanding, contacting restaurants and small grocers all over the Gulf Coast region. He got contracts for daily deliveries of fresh shrimp and hired drivers to make it happen, starting with a handful of customers within 100 miles and eventually reaching many more as far north as Tupelo, Oxford, and Memphis.

John spent a lot of time throughout his childhood on the boat with his father. John was never a very good student, and when he was 14, he dropped out of school and started working side by side with his father full time.

In his 20s, his father started sending him out on deliveries a few times a week so he could get experience in other areas of the family business. John's favorite was the Memphis run, which included stops in north Mississippi, because he loved the city and meeting people, especially women.

John has followed in his father's footsteps in work and in love. He's enjoyed the company of many women over the years both in Baton Rouge and along his regular delivery routes, but he's never married or even had a long-term relationship.