His parents, Jāzeps and Anna Zeps, were World War II refugees.
In 1944, he fled the Soviet occupation of Latvia with his parents and brother, Aivars Zeps.
Valdis married Betty Reel Shuford, a costume designer, in 1957.
He wrote Ķēves dēls Kurbads (partial text at [1]) under the pseudonym Jānis Turbads.
In the 1990s, Valdis also served with distinction as a member of the Hocąk Wazijaci Language & Culture Program board in Mauston, Wisconsin, working with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation to navigate the many options for a new Hocąk language spelling system.