Thorne was born Ahrne Thorenberg in Łódź, Poland on December 26, 1904, to a middle class orthodox Hasidic Jewish family.
[1][2][3][4] In his teens he moved to Paris, abandoned his Hasidic background and became an anarchist in response to the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti.
[6] In 1930 he moved to Toronto, became a friend of Emma Goldman, and began contributing to Fraye Arbeter Shtime, alongside other papers.
[8] From 1940 until 1974 he worked in New York City as a typesetter and printer for the Jewish Daily Forward.
[2][9] Thorne was interviewed for the documentary The Free Voice of Labour: The Jewish Anarchists.