Specht was born and brought up in New York City. He graduated from CCNY at the age of 32 after winning top awards in both short story and essay competitions. Later he moved to California where he became an editor in the Los Angeles offices of a major book publishing firm. Today he is a freelance writer.
He has written for many television shows and also wrote a popular book used in high schools still being published to this day, "Tisha: The Wonderful True Love Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaskan Wilderness".