[1][2] Young graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's degree.
[3] He took a break from his studies to serve in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
[2] He was awarded the first Gertrude C. Vanderbilt professorship from 1972, and he was the director of the Vanderbilt-in-England program at the University of Leeds in 1972-1973.
In 1991, Mark Royden Winchell co-edited a volume of essays about his scholarly contributions.
[3] His funeral was held at the Homewood United Methodist Church in Rose Hill, Mississippi, and he was buried in the Twistwood Cemetery.