Milton Viorst was born on 18 February 1930 in Paterson, New Jersey, USA. He was married to Judith Viorst and Marion Meade. He died on 9 December 2022 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
He graduated from Rutgers University and did postgraduate study at the University of Lyon in France on a Fulbright scholarship. He received a master's degree in history from Harvard University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.