Perrin was educated at the Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia, and later at Williams College where he majored in English Literature and graduated in 1949.
During the Korean War, he served as a forward observer in a field artillery unit and was awarded the Bronze Star.
He joined Dartmouth's Environmental Studies Program in 1984 as an adjunct professor, teaching courses on a range of subjects.
[1][2][3] [4] Perrin wrote essays for many publications and was a regular contributor to the Washington Post for more than 20 years, covering a wide variety of subjects.
[1][2][3] In 1963, Perrin bought a farm in Thetford Center, Vermont which served him as home and grist for six books, including First Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer (1978).
[3] Perrin's interest in environmental matters, including alternative energy sources, led him to purchase an electric car in 1990.