John Edgar Tidwell, the third child of Harry and Verlean Tidwell, was born in Independence, Kansas. He started at Washburn University on a football scholarship in 1964, earning his B.A. in 1969 in English literature. He went on to earn an M.A. from Creighton University in 1971 and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1981, continuing in English. He has successfully pursued a teaching career in higher education.

Before he received tenure at Miami University (Ohio) in 1987, he taught at the University of Kentucky. In 1994, John Edgar was awarded the Langston Hughes Visiting Professorship at the University of Kansas, which led in 1999 to a fulltime appointment in the KU English Department. He was promoted to full professor in 2008.

In addition to his many awards, John Edgar has published numerous works, including seven major books on American and African American literature. Washburn University paid tribute to his success by bestowing upon him the honorary degree Doctorate of Literature in May 2014.