James Grover Thurber was born at 251 Parsons Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 1894. He was named for James Grover, the town's first librarian, a Methodist minister, and a close friend of his mother's father. His parents were Charles Leander Thurber and Mame Fisher.

In 1901, "Jamie" Thurber was the victim of an accident that would change his life forever. On a hot Sunday afternoon, he and his brother William were playing with their homemade bows and arrows. Jamie was serving as the target in an apple-less version of William Tell when his older brother accidentally shot an arrow into his left eye. The doctor whom they found gave the wrong advice to leave the eye in place. Failure to remove it led to "sympathetic ophthalmia," an inflammation of the undamaged eye caused by the reaction of the body's immune system to the injured one. At last a specialist removed the blinded eye several weeks later, and Jamie was fitted with a glass replacement, but by then the damage had been done. This would lead to the deterioration and eventual blindness of Thurber's right eye in the 1940s. His blindness would prove a major hindrance to Thurber throughout his career. Had he received better treatment, his vision may have survived, but the lack of good medical care during the time period affected the rest of Thurber's life.

Thurber's drawing ability went along with his vision. As his blindness increased, his drawings became less and less clear, and also larger, as this made it easier for him to see the lines he was drawing. Eventually, of course, he had to stop drawing altogether. But this certainly did not mean the end of his writing career. Thurber learned to dictate to others, who would write or type his work for him. He was also blessed with an astounding ability to recall information, which proved very useful and also improved after he lost his sight. He was able to remember entire passages of his work and make revisions in his head, often several times through. Along with illustrations and written pieces, Thurber discovered play writing. He wrote a few pieces for the stage during his lifetime, only one or two of which were at all successful.