Sherry was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, the younger twin (by eleven minutes) of Alan.
[1][2] Sherry studied at King's College, Newcastle, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955.
He also wrote on Joseph Conrad, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and Jane Austen.
[4] From 1983, Sherry held the post of Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
He was married three times: first to the children's novelist Sylvia Sherry, then to Carmen Flores (with whom he had a son and a daughter), and finally to Pat Villalon.