His father, David Singer, a lawyer, died when MGS was 9 years old from a rare autoimmune disease.
His mother, Esther Kobre Singer, was a concert level pianist and received awards from the City of New York for her service typing books in braille.
After mustering out of the army, he attended the University of Illinois, met his future wife, Blanche Ladenson, and graduated with High Honors in Philosophy, Phi Beta Kappa in 1948.
One of his closest friends was Claudia Card, Emma Goldman Professor of Philosophy, UW–Madison, whom he mentored since her undergraduate years at UW.
His brilliance manifested at a young age, with insatiable curiosity, quick wittedness, an interest in right and wrong.
He served in the US Army Airforce to fight fascism in WW II - the war ended before he was sent to a front, but living through that time of evil profoundly influenced his thinking and actions.
[4] According to his profile in the Encyclopedia of Ethics, Singer's "writings also include important work on the moral philosophies of" John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick.