Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whānau a Heller i te 1 o Mei, 1923 i Coney Island i Brooklyn, i New York, he tama na ngā mātua Hurai rawakore, a Lena rāua ko Isaac Donald Heller, nō Rūhia. Ahakoa rite te tamaiti, i aroha ia ki te tuhituhi; rite te taiohi, i tuhituhi ia he kōrero e pā ana ki te
Ka tukuna atu ki te New York "Daily News", i whakakahoretia. Whai muri i tana tohu i te Kura Tuarua o Abraham Lincoln i te 1941, i whakapau a Heller i te tau e whai ake nei hei akonga ki te kaihanga whakarewa, he tamaiti kaikawe, me te kaitohutohu.