Terban was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and began his career as an author with a book that he wrote and drew in the first grade about a fuzzy green dragon. His first real writing job was a weekly column for his local newspaper when he was in high school. He was also the editor of his high school newspaper and literary magazine. He went to Tufts and Columbia Universities, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees respectively. For over fifty years, he has taught English, Latin, Public Speaking, Computer, Theater, and other subjects at the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.