Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Heller a ranar 1 ga Mayu, 1923 a Coney Island a Brooklyn, New York, ɗan matalauta Yahudawa, Lena da Isaac Donald Heller, daga Rasha. Tun yana yaro, yana son yin rubutu; sa'ad da yake matashi, ya rubuta labari game da mamayewar Rasha a Finland
kuma ya aika da shi zuwa New York "Daily News", wanda ya ƙi shi. Bayan kammala karatunsa daga Makarantar Sakandaren Abraham Lincoln a 1941, Heller ya shafe shekara mai zuwa yana aiki a matsayin mai koyon aikin maƙerin ƙarfe, ɗan saƙo, da kuma ma'aikacin fayil.