Todd was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His mother remarried when he was 12 and the new family moved to Little Neck, Queens. Todd wasn't much of a student and didn’t learn to appreciate literature until his late teens. He credits his mother and stepfather for surrounding him with books and never pressuring him to read, which resulted in his lifelong passion for reading and learning. A longtime bachelor, he found true love late in life and lives happily with his beautiful wife and daughter in New Jersey.
