Malsin, Freed's stepfather, was "a successful merchant selling clothing for a time, then military gear, and later soft drinks. After World War II, when the wartime boom deflated and prices soared, his stepfather’s business collapsed and he committed suicide". " 'We’ve all known a Willy Loman in our life,' Freed said, referring to Arthur Miller's classic play, 'Death of a Salesman,' in which the protagonist Willy Loman commits suicide hoping that in death he may provide for his family. Freed's mother, who sold insurance 'in the back roads of Louisiana,' supported the family until she died of cancer at 42".