[19][20][21][22] Lidz was born in Manhattan, to Sidney, a Jewish electronics engineer who designed the first transistorized portable tape recorder (the Steelman Transitape),[23][24] and Selma, a homemaker.

[33] Lidz was a novice reporter at the weekly Sanford Star, where he wrote a column and covered police and fire beats.

[46] Among his most controversial features are essays on reappraising the dodo;[47] reconsidering Neanderthals;[48] the effects of climate change on glacial archaeology;[49] the Pacific Northwest barred owl cull;[50] Hannibal;[51] the 2002 Paris-to-Dakar Rally;[52] George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees' line of succession;[53][54][55][56][57] the hijinks of onetime Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling;[58][59][60] and a S.I.

[67][68] In his review of Unstrung Heroes in The New York Times, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt called the memoir "unusual and affecting ... a melancholy, funny book, a loony tune played with touching disharmony on mournful woodwinds and a noisy klaxon".

Lidz has said that he was inspired by the real-life cautionary tales that his father told him, the most macabre of which was the story of the Collyer brothers, the hermit hoarders of Harlem.

[75] The book also recounts the parallel life of Arthur Lidz,[76] the hermit uncle of Unstrung Heroes, who grew up near the Collyer mansion.

[77] In his review for The Washington Post, Adam Bernstein wrote, "The Collyer Brothers made compelling reading then, as they do now in this short, captivatingly detailed book.

"[78] Fairway to Hell is a 2008 memoir centering on Lidz' unusual golfing experiences: encountering nudists, llama caddies[41] and celebrities like the heavy metal band Judas Priest.

[79][80] Bill Littlefield reviewed the book on the National Public Radio show Only A Game, saying "His estimable wit is also evident in Fairway To Hell.