Tuhia he tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I whānau a Heller i te Mei 1, 1923 ki Coney Island i Brooklyn, New York, he tama na ngā mātua Hurai rawakore, a Lena rāua ko Isaac Donald Heller, nō Rūhia. I a ia e tamariki ana, he pai ki a ia te tuhituhi; i a ia e taiohi ana, i tuhituhi ia i tētahi kōrero mō te whakaekenga o Rūhia ki Finland
I tukuna atu ki te New York "Daily News", nāna i whakakahore. 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.