He attended Taft Elementary and Lakewood High School.
Gold's final publication, a poetry collection entitled Fathers Verses Sons, is scheduled for publication on March 9, 2024, on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Gold moved to New York City at age 17 after several of his poems had been accepted by New York literary magazines. While there, he studied philosophy at Columbia University and became affiliated with the burgeoning Beat Generation, which resulted in a lifelong friendship with writer Allen Ginsberg.
In 1946, Gold graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. degree, and M.A. degree in 1948.
His studies were interrupted when he served in the United States Army from 1943 until 1946, during World War II.