adler was the son of abe adler (a stage manager) who, in turn, was the son of yiddish theater star jacob adler by his first wife sonya ("sophia") adler. per the bio on back jacket of adler's novel "mach 1", "he majored in english at new york university, wrote publicity for robert ripley of 'believe it or not,', owned a new york theatre at twenty-one, presented touring opera companies, served in the air force in world war ii in the fifth air force, far eastern air force and thirteenth bomber command. he produced a revival of "front page", has written both original stories and screenplays for the motion pictures."