weinstock was born in milwaukee, wisconsin. he briefly attended the university of chicago but left to start his own a bookstore. after running the bookstore for three years, he moved to new york city. he published his first books on music in 1939 and 1941, "men of music: their lives, times, and achievements" and "the opera, a history of its creation and performance", both co-authored with wallace brockway (1905–1972). weinstock and brockway had been close friends since their time as students at the university of chicago.